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Here's a clue from a book of Daily Mail cryptics. It says :
Ate out with unhappy waiter losing heart and not present (6).

According to the answer at the back of the book, it is ETCHED.

Can anyone decipher the clue? I can normally decipher them once I've got (or seen) the answer, but I don't even know where to start with this one. I'm assuming its not a misprint. Thanks

This will be rather a tangle, but I'll try.
Wretched= Unhappy
Waiter losing heart = Wr (w aite r)
Not present = drop the 'wr' from 'wretched'.

Nice one malone. I understand it now. So 'etched' means 'ate out' - I didn't know that.
Thanks

Ah...in the sense of (say) an acid corroding a solid, yes...'etch' means 'eat out/away'. Got it now.

You're welcome, Whetstone - and I'm sorry I missed out the 'etched = ate out ' bit, I must have assumed you knew that|