Crossword Genius

Bribed with garden equipment? Was a great investment! (4,3,2,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

paid off in spades

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'a great investment' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'bribed with garden equipment?' is the wordplay.
'bribed' becomes 'paid off' (paying off is a kind of bribing).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'garden equipment?' becomes 'inspades' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'paidoff'+'inspades'='PAID OFF IN SPADES'

'was' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

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