Crossword Genius

Getting on a horse around half nine? Roughly (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aging

'getting on' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a horse around half nine? roughly' is the wordplay.
'horse' becomes 'gg' (**).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'half' indicates taking half.
'roughly' indicates an anagram.
'nine' halved is 'ni'.
'ni' anagrammed gives 'in'.
'gg' enclosing 'in' is 'ging'.
'a'+'ging'='AGING'

(Other definitions for aging that I've seen before include "Maturing" , "Becoming more grown-up" , "development" , "Getting old" , "in decline" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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