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Guilty of a fumble, tripping close to ball (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

blameful

'guilty' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'a fumble tripping close to ball' is the wordplay.
'tripping' is an anagram indicator.
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close/ending of).
The final letter of 'ball' is 'l'.
'a'+'fumble'='afumble'
'afumble' anagrammed gives 'blamefu'.
'blamefu'+'l'='BLAMEFUL'

'of' acts as a link.

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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