Old pet’s ears given a spraying to get ticks off (11)
I believe the answer is:
exasperates
'ticks off' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their -s form, I cannot see how one could define the other.
'old pet's ears given a spraying' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'given' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'spraying' indicates an anagram.
'pets' put after 'ears' is 'earspets'.
'earspets'+'a'='earspetsa'
'earspetsa' anagrammed gives 'asperates'.
'ex'+'asperates'='EXASPERATES'
'to get' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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