Crossword Genius

Time's up! Oddly, that could be an incentive (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

impetus

'an incentive' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'time's up oddly' is the wordplay.
'oddly' is an anagram indicator.
'times'+'up'='timesup'
'timesup' is an anagram of 'IMPETUS'.

'that could be' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for impetus that I've seen before include "Incentive - time's up (anag)" , "Incentive, stimulus" , "Imputes to force with which a body moves" , "Drive" , "influence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app