Crossword Genius

Ill fortune in battle over English Channel town (3,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

raw deal

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

'ill fortune' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'battle over english channel town' is the wordplay.
'battle' becomes 'war' (I've seen this before).
'over' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'english channel town' becomes 'deal' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'war' back-to-front is 'raw'.
'raw'+'deal'='RAW DEAL'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for raw deal that I've seen before include "Unjust payoff" , "Untreated wood" , "cruel treatment" , "Unfair treatment like uncooked timber" , "Unjust arrangement" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app