Blackmail material to strike down MP with: corruption involving mother (9)

Independent Cryptic #12253 | 16 Down | 2026-01-15
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I haven't cracked this one yet — but the brilliant team at Fifteensquared have:

KO (=to strike down, i.e. knock out) + MP + [MA (=mother) in ROT (=corruption)]; from the Russian for “compromising material”, kompromat was used by the NKVD under Stalin to blackmail persons of interest

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