Thoughts

Doctor Clue says:

Hi Codjuma

Yes, I think ‘uses’ and ‘using’ are perfectly acceptable to indicate that the answer results from the wordplay. They are similar to ‘involves’, which is in the list, and several others suggestive of ingredients which are not, eg ‘comprises’, ‘consists of’ and ’embodies’. I like these more than those which imply a requirement, eg ‘needs’, requires’ and ‘demands’, because the answer could be produced in other ways, but I would say that all of the foregoing were likely to be understood and accepted by solvers.

The key with all these verbal links is to ensure that the grammar of the clue as a whole when interpreted cryptically is valid. It’s essential as a setter to be able to ‘park’ the surface reading of a clue and read it as an instruction to the solver; if this doesn’t legitimately lead to the answer, the clue is unsound. There are some examples of unsound constructions on the ‘Links Between Definition and Wordplay’ page, but one including ‘uses’ would be “Fool uses child’s bed nurses left” for CLOT (COT around L). Ignoring the surface reading (which is grammatically valid) and treating the clue as the solver needs to do in order to derive the answer reveals that there are two main verbs, ‘uses’ and ‘nurses’, which is no good; if you change ‘nurses’ to ‘nursing’, it’s sound, but the surface reading doesn’t work. Something like “Fool uses Latin in bed” would be fine.