The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word TORCHED
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
T
O
R
C
H
E
D
More clues leading to the result TORCHED
- Fellow pinching gold chain gets fired
- 50s rocker pinching golden chain is fired
- About a hundred red hot switches lit up
- Rejected rubbish guerrilla had briefly burnt
- Rubbish written about church — editor fired
- Maliciously burned, Hector sadly died
- Cremated editor under mountain church
- Burnt a piece of Camembert or Cheddar
- The cord, twisted and set alight
- Burnt affected parts with uranium, absorbing roentgens
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "lit up" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case lit up = torched.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does TORCHED mean?
TORCHED verb- To set fire to, especially by use of a torch (flaming stick).