Crossword Genius

Sequences covered by organs, coming before the service, say? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

earliness

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'coming before the service say?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'sequences covered by organs' is the wordplay.
'sequences' becomes 'lines' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'covered by' indicates putting letters inside.
'organs' becomes 'ears' (ear is a kind of organ).
'lines' inserted within 'ears' is 'EARLINESS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for earliness that I've seen before include "Ere snails? (Anag)" , "being in good time" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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