Crossword Genius

Puncture made by small parasite (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stick

'puncture' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'by small parasite' is the wordplay.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'parasite' becomes 'tick' (I've seen this before).
's' next to 'tick' is 'STICK'.

'made' is the link.

(Other definitions for stick that I've seen before include "School punishment once" , "heavy criticism" , "Adhere - cane" , "Baton; gum" , "See 2" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.