Restricts, the punishment convicts accept (8)
I believe the answer is:
confines
'restricts' is the definition.
('confine' can be a synonym of 'restrict')
'punishment convicts accept' is the wordplay.
'punishment' becomes 'fine' (fine is a kind of punishment).
'convicts' becomes 'cons' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'accept' is an insertion indicator.
'fine' put within 'cons' is 'CONFINES'.
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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