Crossword Genius

Expense of keeping son in bed (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cost

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'expense' is the definition.
(cost is a kind of expense)

'keeping son in bed' is the wordplay.
'keeping' is an insertion indicator.
'son' becomes 's'.
'in bed' becomes 'cot' (cot is a kind of bed. I am not sure about the 'in' bit.).
's' going into 'cot' is 'COST'.

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cost that I've seen before include "Amount to pay" , "Fee" , "Suffering" , "penalty" , "estimate price" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.