Crossword Genius

Poor Italian curate leaves area, lacking fluency (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

inarticulate

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

'poor italian curate leaves area' is the wordplay.
'poor' is an anagram indicator.
'leaves' is a deletion indicator.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'italian'+'curate'='italiancurate'
'italiancurate' with 'a' removed is 'itliancurate'.
'itliancurate' anagrammed gives 'INARTICULATE'.

(Other definitions for inarticulate that I've seen before include "Tongue-tied" , "Unintelligible" , "Unable to express oneself clearly" , "incapable of clear speech" , "Not able to speak coherently" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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