Crossword Genius

Whiskey taken before degenerate conduct (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

wage

'conduct' is the definition.
(both can mean to carry out)

'whiskey taken before degenerate' is the wordplay.
'whiskey' becomes 'W' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'taken before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'degenerate' becomes 'age' (ageing is a kind of degenerating).
'w'+'age'='WAGE'

(Other definitions for wage that I've seen before include "Carry on - remuneration" , "Pay (enough to live on?)" , "something to do with war?" , "practise" , "Pursue" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun and The Times.
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