Crossword Genius

Wild situation with heartless devil seen in torchlight (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bedlam

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

'wild situation' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both states of affairs as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'heartless devil seen in torchlight' is the wordplay.
'heartless' means to remove the middle letters.
'seen in' indicates putting letters inside.
'torchlight' becomes 'beam' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'devil' with its centre removed is 'dl'.
'dl' inserted into 'beam' is 'BEDLAM'.

'with' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bedlam that I've seen before include "Place of uproar or madness" , "Blamed for deafening noise" , "commotion" , "Very noisy confused place" , "Blamed for chaotic situation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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.