Crossword Genius

Ace finding missing uniform narrowly avoided disaster? (1,4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

a near thing

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

'ace' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'missing uniform narrowly avoided disaster?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'narrowly avoided' could be 'near' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'near' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'athing' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'finding' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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