Crossword Genius

Small volume of pickled peppers, perhaps - half left for Mark (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

speckle

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'small volume of pickled peppers' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'half left for mark' is the wordplay.
'half' indicates taking half.
'for' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'mark' becomes 'speck' (specking is a kind of marking).
'left' halved is 'le'.
'le' after 'speck' is 'SPECKLE'.

'perhaps' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for speckle that I've seen before include "Small spot of colour" , "pepper with colour" , "Small patch of colour" , "Small mark on skin" , "Little dot" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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