Crossword Genius

Rope always attached to wood (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

forestay

'rope' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'always attached to wood' is the wordplay.
'always' becomes 'ay'.
'attached to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'wood' becomes 'forest' ('forest' can be a synonym of 'wood'**).
'ay' after 'forest' is 'FORESTAY'.

(Another definition for forestay that I've seen is " Rope".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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.