Crossword Genius

Crouching in leaves equally peculiar (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

asquat

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'crouching in' is the definition.
'asquat' can be an answer for 'crouching' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'in' bit.

'equally peculiar' is the wordplay.
'equally' becomes 'as' ('as' can be a synonym of 'equally').
'peculiar' becomes 'quat' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'as'+'quat'='ASQUAT'

'leaves' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for asquat that I've seen is " crouching".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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