Crossword Genius

An orange is a non-starter with minced veal! (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

navel

'an orange' is the definition.
(navel orange is a kind of orange)

'non-starter with minced veal' is the wordplay.
'starter' suggests taking the first letters.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'minced' indicates an anagram.
The first letter of 'non' is 'n'.
'veal' with letters rearranged gives 'avel'.
'n'+'avel'='NAVEL'

'is a' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for navel that I've seen before include "Target of gaze" , "Where the umbilical cord was once attached" , "Variety of orange" , "Part of body; sort of orange" , "Bellybutton" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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