Crossword Genius

Space between shelves with edges trimmed in swirly pattern (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aisle

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'swirly pattern' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'space between shelves with edges trimmed in' is the wordplay.
'space between' becomes 'aile' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'shelves' becomes 'puts off' ('put off' can be a synonym of 'shelve').
'with edges trimmed' means to look at the middle letters (letters at the edges are removed).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
The middle letter of 'putsoff' is 's'.
'aile' going around 's' is 'AISLE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aisle that I've seen before include "Way between seating areas" , "Passage between seating blocks" , "Way between seats" , "Passageway between seating areas" , "Passages between seating areas" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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