Crossword Genius

First of nurserymen supporting plant at the rear (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

astern

'at the rear' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'first of nurserymen supporting plant' is the wordplay.
'first of nurserymen' becomes 'n' (1st letter of 'nurserymen').
'supporting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'plant' becomes 'aster' (aster is a kind of plant).
'n' after 'aster' is 'ASTERN'.

(Other definitions for astern that I've seen before include "The wake is" , "at the vessel's rear" , "Aft" , "back for sailors" , "Towards a ship's rear" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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