Crossword Genius

Did Polish brand start to invent junk? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

burnished

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'did polish' is the definition.
('burnish' can be a synonym of 'polish')

'brand start to invent junk?' is the wordplay.
'brand' becomes 'burn' (brand can mean to burn a mark into something).
'start to' suggests taking the first letters.
'junk?' becomes 'shed' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The first letter of 'invent' is 'i'.
'burn'+'i'+'shed'='BURNISHED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for burnished that I've seen before include "shone" , "made lustrous" .)

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