Crossword Genius

German almost ready to eat bag (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

grip

'bag' is the definition.
('grip' can be a synonym of 'bag')

'german almost ready to eat' is the wordplay.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation**).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'ready to eat' becomes 'ripe' (I've seen this before).
'ripe' with its final letter removed is 'rip'.
'g'+'rip'='GRIP'

(Other definitions for grip that I've seen before include "interest - a lot!" , "Deeply affect" , "Clutch - holdall" , "Hold hard" , "Secure" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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