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Party decoration Dad’s welcoming home — cheers after (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pinata

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'party decoration' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'dad's welcoming home cheers after' is the wordplay.
'dad' becomes 'pa' (both can mean one's father).
'welcoming' means one lot of letters goes inside another (in sense of 'inviting in').
'home' becomes 'in' ('he's home' can mean 'he's in').
'cheers' becomes 'ta' (both can informally mean thank you).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'pa' placed around 'in' is 'pina'.
'pina'+'ta'='PINATA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pinata that I've seen before include "that's broken at party" , "Container suspended from a height for blindfolded children to break open with sticks" , "Smashed party guest" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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