Nearly clean before microscopic analysis (8)

I believe the answer is:

scrutiny

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'analysis' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'nearly clean before microscopic' is the wordplay.
'nearly' means to remove the last letter.
'clean' becomes 'scrub' (scrub can mean to clean).
'before microscopic' becomes 'tiny' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'before' bit.).
'scrub' with its last letter taken off is 'scru'.
'scru'+'tiny'='SCRUTINY'

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(Other definitions for scrutiny that I've seen before include "From close inspection" , "Close survey" , "Intense study" , "Close, careful examination" , "Close investigation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun and The Sunday Times.

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