Rotter that was played down by cartoon curate? (3,3)
I believe the answer is:
bad egg
'rotter' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'was played down by cartoon curate?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'played' could be 'bad' (bidding is a kind of playing) and 'bad' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'egg' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'that' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for bad egg that I've seen before include "Untrustworthy type (smelling rotten?)" , "Rotten scoundrel?" , "Worthless person" , "Nasty fellow like addled ovum" , "A real stinker?" .)