Crossword Genius

Sack women on non-professional new seat (3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lay waste

'sack' is the definition.
(to sack can mean to destroy a town or city)

'women on non-professional new seat' is the wordplay.
'women' becomes 'w'.
'on' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'non-professional' becomes 'lay' (I've seen this before).
'new' is an anagram indicator.
'seat' with letters rearranged gives 'aste'.
'lay'+'aste'='layaste'
'w' inserted within 'layaste' is 'LAY WASTE'.

(Other definitions for lay waste that I've seen before include "Destroy and ruin an area" , "Devastate" , "Destroy or ruin, demolish" , "Raze, destroy buildings, crops etc" , "Make desolate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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