Crossword Genius

A table leg is smeared in trifle (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bagatelle

'trifle' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a table leg is smeared' is the wordplay.
'is smeared' indicates an anagram.
'a'+'table'+'leg'='atableleg'
'atableleg' is an anagram of 'BAGATELLE'.

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for bagatelle that I've seen before include "musical composition" , "lovely trinket" , "Unimportant thing" , "Trifle - game with pins and balls" , "Something trifling and negligible" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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