University dons brought up poor artist's feeble effort (4)
I believe the answer is:
daub
'artist's feeble effort' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'university dons brought up poor' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'u'.
'dons' is an insertion indicator (don means to wear or put on).
'brought up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (down clues only).
'poor' becomes 'bad' ('bad' can be similar in meaning to 'poor'**).
'bad' back-to-front is 'dab'.
'u' put within 'dab' is 'DAUB'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for daub that I've seen before include "Smear carelessly" , "Smear; bad painting" , "Amateurish painting" , "Plaster; paint crudely" , "Smear; plaster" .)