Crossword Genius

Scramble as GCHQ in vault beneath Eton's walls? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

encrypt

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

'scramble as gchq' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'vault beneath eton's walls?' is the wordplay.
'vault' becomes 'crypt' (I've seen this in another clue).
'beneath' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue).
'walls?' suggests removing the centre (I've seen 'walls' mean this (the walls are the letters on each edge)).
'eton' with its middle removed is 'en'.
'crypt' put after 'en' is 'ENCRYPT'.

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for encrypt that I've seen before include "Obscure words of" , "Change into coded version" , "Put (a message) into code" , "Encipher" , "Cipher" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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