Forestalls dust-up ultimately before tempers frayed (3-5)
I believe the answer is:
pre-empts
'forestalls' is the definition.
(I know this)
'up ultimately before tempers frayed' is the wordplay.
'ultimately' suggests the final letters.
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'frayed' indicates an anagram.
The final letter of 'up' is 'p'.
'tempers' is an anagram of 'reempts'.
'p'+'reempts'='PRE-EMPTS'
'dust' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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