Crossword Genius

Amount of greenery in meadow beginning to fall over long time (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

leafage

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

'amount of greenery' is the definition.
'leafage' can be an answer for 'greenery' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'amount of' bit.

'meadow beginning to fall over long time' is the wordplay.
'meadow' becomes 'lea' (a lea is a grassy area).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
'over' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'long time' becomes 'age' (an age is a period of time).
The initial letter of 'fall' is 'f'.
'lea'+'f'+'age'='LEAFAGE'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for leafage that I've seen before include "marijuana, possibly" , "Greenery" , "Gala fee (anag)" , "Foliage" , "Green growth" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.