What the devil did is cruel (4)
I believe the answer is:
fell
'is cruel' is the definition.
(synonyms)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for fell that I've seen before include "High moorland or unforested hill in the UK" , "Stuck-up" , "Hide" , "to floor" , "Keeled over" .)