Crossword Genius

Spin back to front with half the football (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

twirl

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

'spin' is the definition.
(I know that spin can be written as twirl)

'back to front with half the football' is the wordplay.
'back to' indicates one should take the final letters.
'half' suggests halving the letters.
'the football' becomes 'rl' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The final letter of 'front' is 't'.
'with' halved is 'wi'.
't'+'wi'+'rl'='TWIRL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for twirl that I've seen before include "Gyrate" , "Spin round quickly" , "Pirouette" , "Spin round lightly" , "Cause to spin" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app