Crossword Genius

Half of guests not turning up at first - rudely, one could be put out (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tongue

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'up at first rudely one could be put out' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'half of guests not turning' is the wordplay.
'half of' means to take half the letters.
'turning' indicates an anagram.
'guests' halved is 'gue'.
'gue'+'not'='guenot'
'guenot' is an anagram of 'TONGUE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tongue that I've seen before include "Speech" , "Mouth organ; language" , "spit" , "Organ of taste" , "Go tune up what's in the mouth" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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