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About time such protection afforded key witness? (5-3-5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

round-the-clock

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'key witness?' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'about time such protection afforded' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'about' could be 'round' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'round' is found in the answer.
'time' could be 'clock' (synonyms) and 'clock' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'the' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for round-the-clock that I've seen before include "24 hours without a break" , "Twenty-four-hour (operation)" , "Nonstop" , "At all times" , "24-7" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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