Crossword Genius

Distinguish between overturned mattress and the work of Tracey Emin? (4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tell apart

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'distinguish' is the definition.
(I know that distinguish can be written as tell apart)

'between overturned mattress and the work of tracey emin?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'work' could be 'part' (part is a kind of work) and 'part' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ella' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tell apart that I've seen before include "Rattle pal about - distinguish one from the other" , "See difference between" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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