Crossword Genius

Stop dead: cougar to the left (3,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dam up

'stop' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'dead cougar to the left' is the wordplay.
'dead' becomes 'd' (abbreviation in government records).
'cougar' becomes 'puma' (synonyms).
'to the left' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (reading from right to left).
'puma' backwards is 'amup'.
'd'+'amup'='DAM UP'

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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