Crossword Genius

Yearn to seize booty I’m regularly plundering (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

looting

'plundering' is the definition.
(looting is a kind of plundering)

'yearn to seize booty i'm regularly' is the wordplay.
'yearn' becomes 'long-' (synonyms).
'to seize' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'regularly' indicates alternate letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
'booty'+'im'='bootyim'
The alternate letters of 'bootyim' are 'oti'.
'long' placed around 'oti' is 'LOOTING'.

(Other definitions for looting that I've seen before include "Wartime stealing" , "Sacking" , "Wartime theft" , "Stealing in times of unrest" , "Stealing during a disturbance" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app