Criticised good person close to me in a way (7)
I believe the answer is:
roasted
'criticised' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I can't see how one could define the other.
'good person close to me in a way' is the wordplay.
'good person' becomes 'st' (saint).
'close to' indicates one should take the final letters (the close/ending of).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'a way' becomes 'road' (road is a kind of way**).
The final letter of 'me' is 'e'.
'st'+'e'='ste'
'ste' going inside 'road' is 'ROASTED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for roasted that I've seen before include "Severely reprimanded" , "Cooked hot food" , "Cooked (turkey?)" , "Cooked (like a joint)" , "Cooked (like chestnuts)" .)