Crossword Genius

Beat the first article (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tan

'beat' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'the first article' is the wordplay.
'the first' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'the').
'article' becomes 'an' (indefinite article).
't'+'an'='TAN'

(Other definitions for tan that I've seen before include "Lightish brown colour" , "Shade of brown" , "Tawny" , "Go brown" , "Thrash" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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