Crossword Genius

Recent deal sadly restricting fine sewing and embroidery (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

needlecraft

'sewing and embroidery' is the definition.
(sewing and embroidery are part of needlecraft)

'recent deal sadly restricting fine' is the wordplay.
'sadly' indicates an anagram.
'restricting' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'fine' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'recent'+'deal'='recentdeal'
'recentdeal' with letters rearranged gives 'needlecrat'.
'needlecrat' enclosing 'f' is 'NEEDLECRAFT'.

(Other definitions for needlecraft that I've seen before include "Skill in fixing sails, say" , "Art of sewing" , "Talent shown by Little Dorrit" , "Art of stitching" , "talent for embroidery" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app