Gradually includes Times in back copies of favourites (4,2,4)
I believe the answer is:
step by step
'gradually' is the definition.
(I know that gradually can be written as step by step)
'times in back copies of favourites' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'times' could be 'by' (both can mean 'multiplied by') and 'by' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'includes' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for step by step that I've seen before include "Gradually" , "A bit at a time" , "climb ladder thus" , "advance via stair" , "Incrementally" .)