Crossword Genius

Sliced silver up then lost hair (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gashed

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

'sliced silver up then lost hair' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with contact as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'silver up then lost hair' is the wordplay.
'silver' becomes 'Ag' (Ag is the chemical symbol for silver).
'up' is a reversal indicator (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'then lost hair' becomes 'shed' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ag' back-to-front is 'ga'.
'ga'+'shed'='GASHED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gashed that I've seen before include "Deeply cut" , "Cut open" , "Wounded" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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