Crossword Genius

Line over river blocked by points failure (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

loser

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'failure' is the definition.
(someone who has failed)

'line over river blocked by points' is the wordplay.
'line over' becomes 'lo' (this might be a standard abbreviation which I don't know about).
'river' becomes 'r' (abbreviation for river).
'blocked by' indicates putting letters inside (I've seen this in other clues).
'points' becomes 'se'.
'lo'+'r'='lor'
'lor' enclosing 'se' is 'LOSER'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for loser that I've seen before include "One who is always a failure" , "Winner's opponent" , "One not winning" , "Person who's a failure" , "sad type?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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