Crossword Genius

British yard found beside centre from memory (2,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

by heart

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

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

'british yard found beside centre' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'british' could be 'b' (abbreviation e.g. in 'BBC') and 'b' is present in the answer.
'yard' could be 'y' (abbreviation) and 'y' is located in the answer.
'centre' could be 'heart' (synonyms) and 'heart' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for by heart that I've seen before include "(Learnt) in memory" , "Thoroughly memorized, word perfect" , "Parrot-fashion" , "how circulation is maintained" , "Off pat" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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