Crossword Genius

Meddling when abandoning short term, in conclusion (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

inference

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

'conclusion' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'meddling when abandoning short term in' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'when' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is located in the answer.
'in' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for inference that I've seen before include "Niece fern (anag.)" , "Deduction, conclusion" , "Deduction from evidence" , "Conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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