Crossword Genius

In the garden, they finish up with a number of insects (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

plants

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'in the garden they' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adverb but the answer is not.

'finish up with a number of insects' is the wordplay.
'finish' indicates taking half.
'with' is an insertion indicator.
'a' becomes 'an'.
'number of insects' becomes 'lts' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'up' cut in half is 'p'.
'an' put inside 'lts' is 'lants'.
'p'+'lants'='PLANTS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for plants that I've seen before include "Vegetable organisms" , "Living organisms without power of movement" , "Trees, shrubs etc." , "Settles" , "Places in the earth" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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