Crossword Genius

Local quarrel over places at university close to Stanford (4,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dust up

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'local quarrel' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'over places at university close to stanford' is the wordplay.
'over' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'places' becomes 'puts' ('put' can be a synonym of 'place').
'at' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'university' becomes 'u' (abbreviation for university).
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close/ending of).
The last letter of 'stanford' is 'd'.
'puts'+'u'+'d'='putsud'
'putsud' backwards is 'DUST-UP'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for dust up that I've seen is " Row".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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