Crossword Genius

A raw beginner finishes in tears (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rends

'tears' is the definition.
(rending is a kind of tearing)

'a raw beginner finishes' is the wordplay.
'beginner' says to take the initial letters.
'finishes' becomes 'ends' ('end' can be a synonym of 'finish').
The initial letter of 'raw' is 'r'.
'r'+'ends'='RENDS'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for rends that I've seen before include "Tears apart" , "Tears asunder" .)

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