Crossword Genius

Cleaner ladle almost filled with meat (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shampoo

'cleaner' is the definition.
(shampoo cleans hair)

'ladle almost filled with meat' is the wordplay.
'ladle' becomes 'spoon' (I've seen this before).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'filled with' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'meat' becomes 'ham' (ham is a kind of meat).
'spoon' with its last letter removed is 'spoo'.
'spoo' enclosing 'ham' is 'SHAMPOO'.

(Other definitions for shampoo that I've seen before include "treat shock?" , "Hair wash preparation" , "Hair-cleansing agent" , "Ooh, spam! (anag.)" , "Cleaner for locks" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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