Crossword Genius

… beginning to smoke a chillum (new variety) (5,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

music hall

'variety' is the definition.
(I know this)

'beginning to smoke a chillum new' is the wordplay.
'beginning to' suggests taking the first letters.
'new' indicates an anagram.
The first letter of 'smoke' is 's'.
's'+'a'+'chillum'='sachillum'
'sachillum' is an anagram of 'MUSIC-HALL'.

(Other definitions for music hall that I've seen before include "Late 19th century entertainment, and the theatre it took place in" , "Mainly C 19 variety entertainment" , "A Palace of Varieties" , "A place for variety" , "Vaudeville" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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