Cutter was not covering northeast on way back

I believe the answer is:

tenonsaw

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'cutter' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'was not covering northeast on way back' is the wordplay.
'covering' indicates putting letters inside.
'northeast' becomes 'NE' (abbreviation).
'on way back' is a reversal indicator.
'was'+'not'='wasnot'
'wasnot' going around 'ne' is 'wasnonet'.
'wasnonet' in reverse letter order is 'TENON-SAW'.

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I've seen this clue in The Daily Mail.

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