Crossword Genius

Remove end of thin meadow

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lea

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'meadow' is the definition.
(a lea is a grassy area)

'remove end of thin' is the wordplay.
'remove' becomes 'lade' (lading is a kind of removing).
'end' means to remove the middle letters (I've seen 'ends' mean this).
'of thin' becomes 'a' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'lade' with its centre removed is 'le'.
'le'+'a'='LEA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lea that I've seen before include "'The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the . . .'" , "Tract of pastureland" , "Open area of grassy or arable land" , "authority for teachers" , "River of east London" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Mail.
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