Crossword Genius

Quits the day before celebration by bridge team (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

evens

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

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

'day before celebration by bridge team' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'day' could be 'eve' (eve is a kind of day) and 'eve' is present in the answer.
'bridge team' could be 'ns' (north and south are a team in bridge) and 'ns' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'the' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for evens that I've seen before include "Bookies' odds matching the amount staked" , "Smooths the odds" , "1-1" , "Odds on something very likely to win" , "Quits" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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