Fantastically popular guy eviscerated at pre-school? (4,5)

I believe the answer is:

play group

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

'pre-school?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'fantastically popular guy eviscerated' is the wordplay.
'fantastically' is an anagram indicator (a fantastical ordering of the letters).
'eviscerated' suggests removing the centre (the word is disembowelled of its inside letters).
'guy' with its middle taken out is 'gy'.
'popular'+'gy'='populargy'
'populargy' anagrammed gives 'PLAY GROUP'.

'at' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for play group that I've seen before include "Shakespeare's histories, say" , "Where children meet to enjoy" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.