Weasel Like Mammal Behind Southern Spruce

[liztheone123]

7 letters 3rd letter a last letter n
could be Mars, say prosecuted, suffering setback 4 letters ends in s
strait laced girl cracks joke 7 letters 5th letter t
with public behind, use a superior club 9 letters 7th letter u

Can anybody help please

[Lie-in King]

Smarten - 'marten' (weasel-like mammal, behind) 's(outhern)'

[Mamyalynne]

Weasel Like Mammal Behind Southern Spruce 7

S Marten

[Mamyalynne]

could be Mars, say prosecuted, suffering setback 4

Deus - sued,back

[Lie-in King]

2 Deus - 'sued' (prosecuted, back)

Hi Liz - it would be good if you number your clues & show letter patterns, eg (I know this won't be the real clue position) -

1a Weasel like mammal behind southern spruce (7) ??A???N

[Lie-in King]

"Strait-laced...." - Puritan - 'Rita' (cracks; is in) 'pun'

[Mamyalynne]

strait laced girl cracks joke 7 ????T??

Pu Rita n

[Mamyalynne]

with public behind, use a superior club 9

??????U?? - Overtrump

Overt rump

[Lie-in King]

Another thing, Liz - if you put the puzzle title in the box "Enter Your Question Title Here", then put the clues in the "Enter Further Question Details Here..." box, it would make the thread much easier to read & would be in line with the Site's Guidelines, as here -

https://tinyurl.com/y75q5rdd