Date's wild when stripping (3)

I believe the answer is:

era

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'date's' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

I can't explain the remainder of the clue.

(Other definitions for era that I've seen before include "Period of alteration" , "Stage" , "Special time" , "Long period of history" , "Geological period" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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