Crossword Genius

Give service in court - carpentry, perhaps (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

handcraft

'carpentry perhaps' is the definition.

'give service in court' is the wordplay.
'give' becomes 'hand' ('hand' can be a synonym of 'give'**).
'service' becomes 'raf'.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'court' becomes 'ct'.
'raf' inserted inside 'ct' is 'craft'.
'hand'+'craft'='HANDCRAFT'

(Another definition for handcraft that I've seen is " work demanding manual skill".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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