Petticoat leaves failures to finish on time (9)

I believe the answer is:

slippages

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'failures to finish on time' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'petticoat leaves' is the wordplay.
'petticoat' becomes 'slip' (I've seen this in another clue).
'leaves' becomes 'pages' (leaf can mean a page).
'slip'+'pages'='SLIPPAGES'

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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