Crossword Genius

Command to stop in, perhaps, and put the cat out (3,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

can it

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'command to stop in' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'and put the cat out' is the wordplay.
'and' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and').
'put' becomes 'i' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'out' is an insertion indicator.
'n'+'i'='ni'
'ni' going inside 'cat' is 'CAN IT'.

'perhaps' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for can it that I've seen is " Stop doing that".)

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