Crossword Genius

Pierce, male friend in centre of Amiens (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

impale

'pierce' is the definition.
(pierce can mean to impale)

'male friend in centre of amiens' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'centre of' means to look at the middle letters.
The middle of 'amiens' is 'ie'.
'm'+'pal'='mpal'
'mpal' put into 'ie' is 'IMPALE'.

(Other definitions for impale that I've seen before include "Transfix with spear" , "Pierce, run through" , "Pierce with a stick (as Vlad did?)" , "Spike" , "Pierce through as with sharp stick" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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