Crossword Genius

Dry talk on flag recalled (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

evaporate

'dry' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'talk on flag recalled' is the wordplay.
'talk' becomes 'orate' (to orate is to give a speech).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'flag' becomes 'pave' (as in to pave with flagstones).
'recalled' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'pave' in reverse letter order is 'evap'.
'orate' after 'evap' is 'EVAPORATE'.

(Other definitions for evaporate that I've seen before include "Turn from liquid to vapour" , "Dissolve into the air" , "Melt away" , "Fade away gradually" , "Change from liquid to vapour" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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