Crossword Genius

Lingered outside art centre then wandered off (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

strayed

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'wandered off' is the definition.
(stray can mean to wander off)

'lingered outside art centre' is the wordplay.
'lingered' becomes 'stayed' (I've seen this in another clue).
'outside' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters go outside others).
'art centre' becomes 'r' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'stayed' placed around 'r' is 'STRAYED'.

'then' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for strayed that I've seen before include "Wandered away" , "Dry seat (anag) - got lost" , "Went off course" , "Wandered off course" , "Wandered (from path)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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