Crossword Genius

Left dance drunk after graduate fair (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

balanced

'fair' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'left dance drunk after graduate' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation**).
'drunk' is an anagram indicator.
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'graduate' becomes 'ba'.
'dance' with letters rearranged gives 'anced'.
'l'+'anced'='lanced'
'lanced' after 'ba' is 'BALANCED'.

(Other definitions for balanced that I've seen before include "Even" , "Auntie is supposedly" , "Poised, held in equilibrium" , "Equipoised" , "Steady - objective" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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