Sausages free -- oddly rotten encased in hairy skins (12)
I believe the answer is:
frankfurters
'sausages' is the definition.
(frankfurter is a kind of sausage)
'free oddly rotten encased in hairy skins' is the wordplay.
'free' becomes 'frank' (to speak frankly is to speak freely).
'oddly' means one should take alternating letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
'encased in' indicates putting letters inside.
'hairy skins' becomes 'furs' (animal furs).
The alternate letters of 'rotten' are 'rte'.
'rte' going into 'furs' is 'furters'.
'frank'+'furters'='FRANKFURTERS'
I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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