Crossword Genius

Take a risk entering inex­perienced driver in race, evil woman not finishing (4,3,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bell the cat

'take a risk' is the definition.
('bell the cat' can be a synonym of 'take a risk')

'entering inexperienced driver in race evil woman not finishing' is the wordplay.
'entering' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'inexperienced driver' becomes 'l' (I've seen this in other clues).
'in race' becomes 'belt' (both can mean to run fast. I am not sure about the 'in' bit.**).
'evil woman' becomes 'hecate' (Greek goddess associated with witchcraft).
'not finishing' means to remove the last letter.
'l' put within 'belt' is 'bellt'.
'hecate' with its final letter taken off is 'hecat'.
'bellt'+'hecat'='BELL THE CAT'

(Other definitions for bell the cat that I've seen before include "undertake perilous mission" , "Take a shared danger upon oneself" , "do daring assignment" , "Achieve perilous mission" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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