Crossword Genius

Short street party is swell (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crescendo

'is swell' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'short street party' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'street' becomes 'crescent' (crescent-shaped street).
'party' becomes 'do' (do is a kind of party).
'crescent' with its last letter taken away is 'crescen'.
'crescen'+'do'='CRESCENDO'

(Other definitions for crescendo that I've seen before include "Increasing noise" , "Becoming louder in soccer den" , "(Of music) gradually increasing in loudness" , "Gradual increase in loudness, musically" , "Intensify" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.