Crossword Genius

Take priest to outwardly conscious survivors (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

relics

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

'survivors' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.

'take priest to outwardly conscious' is the wordplay.
'take' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for 'recipe', Latin for 'take').
'priest' becomes 'eli' (biblical figure).
'to outwardly' suggests removing the centre (only the outermost letters are used).
'conscious' with its middle taken out is 'cs'.
'r'+'eli'+'cs'='RELICS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for relics that I've seen before include "Bones" , "Items surviving from an earlier time" , "Venerated pieces of saints" , "Objects of historical interest" , "Souvenirs, of saints say" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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.