Crossword Genius

Plant spades on the verge (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sedge

'plant' is the definition.
(sedge is a plant)

'spades on the verge' is the wordplay.
'spades' becomes 's' (abbreviation in card games).
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'the verge' becomes 'edge' (I've seen this before).
's'+'edge'='SEDGE'

(Other definitions for sedge that I've seen before include "plant with triangular stems" , "Grass-like plant growing in wet places" , "fly by rivers" , "Coarse grassy plant" , "Grass-like plant growing in marshes" .)

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