Tries curt mixture of adverse criticism (9)
I believe the answer is:
stricture
'adverse criticism' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'tries curt mixture' is the wordplay.
'mixture' indicates anagramming the letters.
'tries'+'curt'='triescurt'
'triescurt' is an anagram of 'STRICTURE'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for stricture that I've seen before include "Limitation or hostile criticism" , "reprimand" , "Severe criticism or condemnation" , "Sternly critical remark" , "An adverse criticism" .)