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Embellishes story of former leading actor on horse with sweetheart beside allotment (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exaggeration

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

'embellishes story of former leading actor' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'horse with sweetheart beside allotment' is the wordplay.
'horse with' becomes 'exagg' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'sweetheart' becomes 'e' (the middle letter or heart of 'sweet').
'beside' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'allotment' becomes 'ration' (I've seen this in another clue).
'exagg'+'e'+'ration'='EXAGGERATION'

'on' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for exaggeration that I've seen before include "Overstatement - overestimate" , "Hyperbole" , "Something more noticeable" , "overstating the case" , "lie" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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