Crossword Genius

Fought winged creature in endless comedy (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

combated

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

'fought' is the definition.
(combating is a kind of fighting)

'winged creature in endless comedy' is the wordplay.
'winged creature' becomes 'bat' (bat is a kind of creature. I am not sure about the 'winged' bit.).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'endless' means to remove the last letter.
'comedy' with its last letter taken off is 'comed'.
'bat' inserted into 'comed' is 'COMBATED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for combated that I've seen before include "Fought" , "Struggled" , "Opposed" , "Scrapped" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app