Giving up with mate in two moves? Never! (2,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
at no time
'never' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'giving up with mate in two moves?' is the wordplay.
'giving up' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'with' becomes 'w' (short for with).
'moves?' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'move' mean this).
'mate'+'in'+'two'='mateintwo'
'mateintwo' with 'w' removed is 'mateinto'.
'mateinto' is an anagram of 'AT NO TIME'.
(Another definition for at no time that I've seen is " Never".)
I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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