Crossword Genius

A poet writes a couple of verses after school (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spenser

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'a poet' is the definition.
(16th-century poet Edmund Spenser)

'writes a couple of verses after school' is the wordplay.
'writes' becomes 'pens' ('pen' can be a synonym of 'write').
'a couple of verses' becomes 'er' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'school' becomes 'S'.
'pens'+'er'='penser'
'penser' after 's' is 'SPENSER'.

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(Other definitions for spenser that I've seen before include "English poet of 'The Faerie Queene'" , "He wrote" , "Elizabethan poet" , "Edmund, 16th century poet" , "Edmund -, Eng. poet" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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