Crossword Genius

Turn nasty before claret served up (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

meander

'turn' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'nasty before claret served up' is the wordplay.
'nasty' becomes 'mean' (similar in meaning).
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'claret' becomes 'red' (red wine).
'served up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in a down clue, going upwards).
'red' reversed gives 'der'.
'mean'+'der'='MEANDER'

(Other definitions for meander that I've seen before include "Indirectly move" , "Aimless course" , "Follow a random path" , "an Indo-European river" , "Dear men (anag) - wander" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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