Crossword Genius

After delaying line, worth digesting Dickens play (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

vaudeville

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'play' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'after delaying line worth digesting dickens' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'line' could be 'l' (used when specifying particular lines from a poem) and 'l' is found in the answer.
'dickens' could be 'devil' (Dickens is an old name for the Devil) and 'devil' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for vaudeville that I've seen before include "theatrical entertainment" , "Musical and comedy entertainment" , "American music hall" , "Variety entertainment" , "variety show" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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