Crossword Genius

Whiskey taken before degenerate conduct (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

wage

'conduct' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'whiskey taken before degenerate' is the wordplay.
'whiskey' becomes 'w' (alpha bravo charlie delta ...).
'taken before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'degenerate' becomes 'age' (ageing is a kind of degenerating).
'w'+'age'='WAGE'

(Other definitions for wage that I've seen before include "Carry on - remuneration" , "Pay (enough to live on?)" , "something to do with war?" , "practise" , "Pursue" .)

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