Crossword Genius

Sanction naughty boy, lip given a brief curl (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

imprimatur

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

'sanction' is the definition.
(I know that sanction can be written as imprimatur)

'naughty boy lip given a brief curl' is the wordplay.
'naughty boy' becomes 'imp' (imp can mean a misbehaving child).
'lip' becomes 'rim' (synonyms).
'given' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a brief curl' becomes 'atur' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'imp'+'rim'+'atur'='IMPRIMATUR'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for imprimatur that I've seen before include "church licence" , "Church approval" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app