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MA cleared out Turkish auctioneer's gallery (3,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

the bay state

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

'ma' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.

'cleared out turkish auctioneer's gallery' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'gallery' could be 'tate' (Tate Modern, Tate Britain etc) and 'tate' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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