Crossword Genius

Dish given to cold English male cooked in stages (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

piecemeal

'in stages' is the definition.
('piecemeal' can be a synonym of 'in stages')

'dish given to cold english male cooked' is the wordplay.
'dish' becomes 'pie' (I've seen this before).
'given to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'cooked' indicates an anagram.
'male' with letters rearranged gives 'meal'.
'pie'+'c'+'e'+'meal'='PIECEMEAL'

(Other definitions for piecemeal that I've seen before include "Gradually, little by little" , "a little at a time" , "Bit by bit; unsystematic" , "step by step" , "taken bit by bit" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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