Shaving sides of composer's tongue (4)

I believe the answer is:

hopi

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'tongue' is the definition.
(Hopi is an example)

'shaving sides of composer's' is the wordplay.
'shaving' becomes 'ho' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'sides of' means to remove the middle letters (only the letters on the sides remain).
'composer' becomes 'Puccini' (Giacomo Puccini).
'puccini' with its centre taken out is 'pi'.
'ho'+'pi'='HOPI'

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(Other definitions for hopi that I've seen before include "Native Americans" , "Language" , "Pueblo tribe member" , "Arizona inhabitant" , "Arizonan Pueblo Indian" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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