Crossword Genius

Rising doctor mildly curses fame (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stardom

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'curses fame' is the definition.
'stardom' can be an answer for 'fame' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'curses' bit.

'rising doctor mildly' is the wordplay.
'rising' says the letters should be written backwards (going up in a down clue).
'doctor' becomes 'mo' (medical officer).
'mildly' becomes 'drats' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'mo'+'drats'='modrats'
'modrats' back-to-front is 'STARDOM'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stardom that I've seen before include "(The prestige of) celebrity" , "wide renown" , "Celebrity status" , "Status of a top actor" , "Stage or screen fame" .)

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.