Secure lad freely admitted to having acne scars (9)
I believe the answer is:
padlocked
'having acne scars' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'secure lad freely admitted' is the wordplay.
'secure' becomes 'pocked' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'freely' is an anagram indicator.
'admitted' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are let in or admitted).
'lad' is an anagram of 'adl'.
'pocked' going around 'adl' is 'PADLOCKED'.
'to' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution?
Install my app