Crossword Genius

Inside balaclava, say, ever messy — cleaned up (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hoovered

'cleaned up' is the definition.

'inside balaclava say ever messy' is the wordplay.
'inside' indicates putting letters inside.
'balaclava say' becomes 'hood'.
'messy' indicates anagramming the letters.
'ever' is an anagram of 'vere'.
'hood' placed around 'vere' is 'HOOVERED'.

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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