Crossword Genius

Rough spot on rutabaga's skin (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

raspy

'rough' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'spot on rutabaga's skin' is the wordplay.
'spot' becomes 'spy' (synonyms).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'skin' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (only the skin or outside of the word is used).
'rutabaga' with its centre taken out is 'ra'.
'spy' after 'ra' is 'RASPY'.

(Another definition for raspy that I've seen is " Harsh, grating".)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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