Crossword Genius

A long time by checkout, prepared spaces for food (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tillages

'prepared spaces for food' is the definition.
(land prepared for cultivation of crops)

'a long time by checkout' is the wordplay.
'a long time' becomes 'ages' (ages can mean a very long time).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'checkout' becomes 'till' (a supermarket checkout).
'ages' after 'till' is 'TILLAGES'.

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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