Crossword Genius

Fair maiden playing the violin topless? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

middling

'fair' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'maiden playing the violin topless?' is the wordplay.
'maiden' becomes 'm' (cricket abbreviation).
'playing the violin' becomes 'fiddling'.
'topless?' means to remove the first letter (I've seen 'topless' mean this).
'fiddling' with its initial letter removed is 'iddling'.
'm'+'iddling'='MIDDLING'

(Other definitions for middling that I've seen before include "Average, mediocre" , "So-so" , "Medium, average, fair" , "Moderate, average" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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