Crossword Genius

For example, sculpture broken by secretary into pieces (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

apart

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'into pieces' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'for example sculpture broken by secretary' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'secretary' could be 'pa' (abbreviation for personal assistant) and 'pa' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'art' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for apart that I've seen before include "Estranged - in pieces" , "Unconnected" , "divorced" , "Separated or at a distance" , "out on a limb?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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