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Mature enough to make a sound new start, but with bitterness? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nubile

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'mature' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'new start but with bitterness?' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'start but' becomes 'u' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'bitterness?' becomes 'bile' (I've seen this in other clues).
'n'+'u'+'bile'='NUBILE'

'enough to make a sound' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nubile that I've seen before include "Of marriageable age?" , "Sexually mature" , "Young and sexy" , "Of young woman, marriageable or attractive" , "Of girls or women who are eligible to marry" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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