Crossword Genius

Caught on the hop, preparing meat or wood? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chopping

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'or wood?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'caught on the hop preparing meat' is the wordplay.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'preparing meat' becomes 'ping' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'c'+'hop'+'ping'='CHOPPING'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chopping that I've seen before include "Cutting (with an axe)" , "Cutting into pieces" , "Cut into pieces" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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