Crossword Genius

Extremely banal operatic group (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bloc

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'group' is the definition.
The answer is an example.

'extremely banal operatic' is the wordplay.
'extremely' means to remove the middle letters (only the extremes of the word are used).
'operatic' becomes 'oc' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'banal' with its centre taken out is 'bl'.
'bl'+'oc'='BLOC'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bloc that I've seen before include "People cooperating" , "Allied group of countries or political parties" , "Group with a common policy" , "Allied country group" , "Alliance of nations" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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