Cancel Rex Peel, engineer of superior quality (3,10)

I believe the answer is:

par excellence

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'cancel rex peel engineer of superior quality' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'cancel rex peel engineer' is the wordplay.
'engineer' indicates an anagram.
'cancel'+'rex'+'peel'='cancelrexpeel'
'cancelrexpeel' with letters rearranged gives 'PAR EXCELLENCE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for par excellence that I've seen before include "Fine example" , "Beyond comparison" , "Beyond compare" , "Superlative" .)

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

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