Crossword Genius

Composed score without previous blemish (4,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cold sore

'blemish' is the definition.

'composed score without previous' is the wordplay.
'composed' indicates an anagram.
'without' is an insertion indicator ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'previous' becomes 'old'.
'score' with letters rearranged gives 'csore'.
'csore' placed around 'old' is 'COLD SORE'.

(Another definition for cold sore that I've seen is " Facial outbreak of herpes virus".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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