Crossword Genius

Close contract finally, with some help around (2,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

at hand

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

'around' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'close contract finally with some help' is the wordplay.
'close contract finally' becomes 'at' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'some help' becomes 'hand' (hand is a kind of help).
'at'+'hand'='AT HAND'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for at hand that I've seen before include "Conveniently near" , "Close by, within reach" , "Available nearby" , "Close or available in manual way" , "present" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app