Crossword Genius

Small cry of grief mostly, before oddly terminable kangaroo court, say (4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

show trial

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

'small cry of grief mostly' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'before oddly terminable kangaroo court say' is the wordplay.
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'oddly' indicates alternate letters (letters in the odd-numbered positions are used).
'kangaroo court say' becomes 'show' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The alternating letters of 'terminable' are 'trial'.
'trial' after 'show' is 'SHOW TRIAL'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for show trial that I've seen before include "Travesty of justice" , "This process manipulated" , "Mock public examination" , "legal spectacular" , "Court proceedings where the guilty decision has been decided in advance" .)

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