Crossword Genius

Break up day with snarled-up traffic (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

diffract

'break up' is the definition.
(eg light diffracts and breaks up)

'day with snarled-up traffic' is the wordplay.
'day' becomes 'd' (abbreviation for day).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'snarled-up' indicates an anagram (snarled can mean tangled or twisted).
'traffic' with letters rearranged gives 'iffract'.
'd'+'iffract'='DIFFRACT'

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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