Season of gold corporation needs starting out (6)

I believe the answer is:

autumn

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'season' is the definition.
(autumn is a season)

'gold corporation needs starting out' is the wordplay.
'gold' becomes 'Au' (Au is the chemical symbol for gold).
'corporation' becomes 'tum' ('corporation' is a humorous term for stomach fat).
'needs starting out' becomes 'n' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'au'+'tum'+'n'='AUTUMN'

'of' acts as a link.

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(Other definitions for autumn that I've seen before include "Season called the fall in America" , "Fall for Mrs Obama" , "addressed by Keats" , "Time of year" , "Subject of 11 [ODE]" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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