Crossword Genius

Spoils child, putting in love and time (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

booty

'spoils' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'child putting in love and time' is the wordplay.
'child' becomes 'boy' ('boy' can be a synonym of 'child'**).
'putting in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'love' becomes 'o' (In tennis, 'love' means 'zero').
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'time' becomes 't'.
'o'+'t'='ot'
'boy' placed around 'ot' is 'BOOTY'.

(Other definitions for booty that I've seen before include "Money holder" , "Valuable stolen goods" , "Swag" , "Spoils" , "Spoil - plunder" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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.