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Front of tatty, dog-eared novel made to look inferior (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

derogated

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'to look inferior' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'front of tatty dog-eared novel' is the wordplay.
'front of' suggests taking the first letters (the letter at the front of the word).
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in a new or novel order).
The first letter of 'tatty' is 't'.
't'+'dog'+'eared'='tdogeared'
'tdogeared' is an anagram of 'DEROGATED'.

'made' acts as a link.

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I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times and The Times.
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