A number failed to stop the try when playing English (6-5)
I believe the answer is:
twenty-three
'a number' is the definition.
(I know that twenty-three is a type of large integer)
'failed to stop the try when playing english' is the wordplay.
'failed' becomes 'went' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to stop' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'when playing' indicates an anagram.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'the'+'try'='thetry'
'thetry' anagrammed gives 'tythre'.
'went' put inside 'tythre' is 'twentythre'.
'twentythre'+'e'='TWENTY-THREE'
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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