Crossword Genius

Regular date returning, cook a day in advance (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

girlfriend

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

'regular date' is the definition.
'girlfriend' can be an answer for 'date' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'regular' bit.

'returning cook a day in advance' is the wordplay.
'returning' is a reversal indicator.
'cook' becomes 'rig' (I've seen this in other clues).
'a day' becomes 'fri' (abbreviation for Friday).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'advance' becomes 'lend' (I've seen this in another clue).
'rig' reversed gives 'gir'.
'fri' placed into 'lend' is 'lfriend'.
'gir'+'lfriend'='GIRLFRIEND'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for girlfriend that I've seen before include "date" , "Female squeeze" , "Sweetheart" , "Female companion" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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