Charades in areas of garden where top Republican's married (9)

I believe the answer is:

mockeries

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

'charades' is the definition.
('mockery' can be a synonym of 'charade')

'areas of garden where top republican's married' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
'married' could be 'm' (abbreviation, e.g. in genealogy) and 'm' is present in the answer.
'republican' could be 'r' (political abbreviation) and 'r' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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