Front of tatty, dog-eared novel made to look inferior (9)
I believe the answer is:
derogated
'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.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times and The Times.
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