Middle of April or earlier (5)

I believe the answer is:

prior

'earlier' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'middle of april or' is the wordplay.
'middle of' says to take the centre.
The centre of 'april' is 'pri'.
'pri'+'or'='PRIOR'

(Other definitions for prior that I've seen before include "head of a religious community" , "former conviction" , "Erstwhile" , "Antecedent" , "Existing beforehand" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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