Yours Magazine

[powyco]

Last clue in the cryptic crossword : The growth of small moles. I have P-A-T-, which looks like PLANTS, but what has that to do with moles ? Help, please.

[prospector]

The growth of small moles -

moles as .... in a spy placed in an organization in order to gain information ....

another word for a mole (spy) is a 'plant'.

Growth .... 'growth of a plant'

Small ...... probably oblique reference to .... plants being small + a small spy (mole) is a 'plant', i.e. not a big spy like 007 or George Smiley.

[powyco]

Thank you very much, prospector.

[crofter]

PLANT(growth) + S(mall) = PLANTS (moles = spies)