Crossword Genius

Asteroid affected sailors in front half of ship first (4-6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

star-shaped

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

'asteroid' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'affected sailors in front half of ship first' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'sailors' could be 'tars' (tar is a kind of sailor) and 'tars' is present in the answer.
'first' could be 'a' (first letter of the alphabet) and 'a' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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