Crossword Genius

Spy outwardly gets drunk and sloppy (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

slushy

'sloppy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'spy outwardly gets drunk' is the wordplay.
'outwardly' suggests removing the centre (only the outermost letters are used).
'gets' indicates putting letters inside (gets can mean captures or absorbs).
'drunk' becomes 'lush' (lush is a kind of drunk).
'spy' with its centre removed is 'sy'.
'sy' going around 'lush' is 'SLUSHY'.

'and' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for slushy that I've seen before include "Mawkish" , "Schmaltzy" , "Like melting snow" , "Tritely sentimental" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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