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500 leaving waterside in distress you could say (2,2,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

as it were

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'you could say' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'500 leaving waterside in distress' is the wordplay.
'500' becomes 'D' (Roman numeral for 500).
'leaving' suggests deleting specific letters.
'in distress' is an anagram indicator.
'waterside' with 'd' removed is 'watersie'.
'watersie' is an anagram of 'AS IT WERE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for as it were that I've seen before include "Seemingly" , "As if it was actually so" , "you may say" , "you might say" , "In a manner of speaking" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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