Crossword Genius

Totally absurd charges the French introduced (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

priceless

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

'totally absurd' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'charges the french introduced' is the wordplay.
'charges' becomes 'prices' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'the french' becomes 'les' (les is the in french).
'introduced' indicates putting letters inside.
'prices' going around 'les' is 'PRICELESS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for priceless that I've seen before include "Beyond value" , "Wonderful" , "Totally absurd" , "Very precious; absurd" , "Killing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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.