Crossword Genius

Prepare for cooking a plant — do it with mincing? (3,3,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

top and tail

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'prepare for cooking' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether this works.

'a plant do it with mincing?' is the wordplay.
'with mincing?' indicates anagramming the letters (letters get minced or chopped).
'a'+'plant'+'do'+'it'='aplantdoit'
'aplantdoit' with letters rearranged gives 'TOP AND TAIL'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for top and tail that I've seen before include "quickly see to baby" , "cursory wash" , "Scamp washing baby" , "Prepare (vegetables)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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