Crossword Genius

Play regularly after times in goal increase (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

expand

'increase' is the definition.
(expanding is a kind of increasing)

'play regularly after times in goal' is the wordplay.
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'times' becomes 'x' (multiplication sign).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'goal' becomes 'end' ('end' can be a synonym of 'goal'**).
The alternate letters of 'play' are 'pa'.
'pa' after 'x' is 'xpa'.
'xpa' going into 'end' is 'EXPAND'.

(Other definitions for expand that I've seen before include "Distend" , "Amplify" , "Fill out" , "Increase in bulk or importance" , "produce growth" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.