Crossword Genius

Recovering fleece found by valley track (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

convalescent

'recovering' is the definition.
('convalescent' can be a synonym of 'recovering')

'fleece found by valley track' is the wordplay.
'fleece' becomes 'con' (I've seen this before).
'found by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'valley' becomes 'vale' ('vale' can be a synonym of 'valley'**).
'track' becomes 'scent'.
'con'+'vale'+'scent'='CONVALESCENT'

(Other definitions for convalescent that I've seen before include "Novel accents (anag) -- gradually recovering health" , "One recovering from medical treatment" , "getting back to normal" , "Recuperating" , "One may be showing improvement" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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