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Now hold out diary with a couple of gaps (7,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

present day

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

'hold out diary with a couple of gaps' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is found in the answer.
'couple' could be 'pr' and 'pr' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for present day that I've seen before include "Current" , "twenty-fifth of December?" , "occasion for lots of give and take?" , "Christmas for materialists?" , "Contemporary" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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