Crossword Genius

Loathe last four pieces, terribly! (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hate

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'loathe' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'last four pieces terribly' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'last' could be 't' (I've seen this in other clues) and 't' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hae' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hate that I've seen before include "Intense emotion opposite to love" , "Abominate" , "Strong aversion" , "Fury" , "Intense dislike" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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