Crossword Genius

Annoyance the day before exercising? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

peeve

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

'annoyance' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'day before exercising?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'day' could be 'eve' (eve is a kind of day) and 'eve' is present in the answer.
'before' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'p' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for peeve that I've seen before include "grouse" , "Annoy, get at, irritate" , "Intensely annoy" , "cause irritation" , "Cause annoyance" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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