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geting

12th March 2024, 18:19
I think you may have got me hooked

Awkwardly placed, Maria sells rhubarb too, though Old Ma Hubbard's pies are reportedly left to decay, being second-rate (10)
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simplesimon

12th March 2024, 19:20
Hi Geting - it’s fun n’est ce pas?

Using the (A* - B*)* structure, I’m taking:

A= PLACED MARIA SELLS RHUBARB TOO (26 letters)
B= O (ld) MA HUBBARDS PIES R ( are) (16 letters)

LEFT as the eliminator, with AWKWARDLY and TO DECAY as the anagram indicators. So far, so good.

After anagramming the remaining 10 letters - bingo!
We arrive at COLLATERAL

EXCELLENT - think you should submit the clue.
Bonus point for beating us with your inclusion of RHUBARB

THOUGH stumped us for a while; we’d have used a “;” but it’s a good linking punctuation substitute.
👏👏👏👏👏
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geting

12th March 2024, 19:31
Perfectly parsed. Many thanks for tackling it and for the feedback.
To be honest, I don't really understand why a second anagram indicator is necessary in this type of clue
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simplesimon

12th March 2024, 19:49
We agree, unfortunately by eliminating elements from A following the anagram, you are usually left with residual letters which need then to be reassembled back into a coherent phrase or word(s). When supplying clues to a setter, we’ve been advised the editors are likely to reject it unless it conformed to the ( A* - B*)* format. It’s usually not too difficult to meet the requirements- taxing sometimes though.
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geting

12th March 2024, 19:54
Thanks
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