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Be inactive, as old vein's opening in heart (4,4)

Ross

I think it could be either:

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8

4,4

tickover

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'be inactive' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'old vein's opening in heart' is the wordplay.
'opening' indicates taking the first letters.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'heart' becomes 'ticker' (synonyms).
The first letters of 'old vein' is 'ov'.
'ov' put within 'ticker' is 'TICKOVER'.

'as' is the link.

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I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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