Crossword Genius

Spurs uncovered backing blocked by excessive regulator (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

governor

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'regulator' is the definition.
(governor is a kind of regulator)

'spurs uncovered backing blocked by excessive' is the wordplay.
'spurs' becomes 'gno' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'uncovered' means to look at the middle letters.
'backing' becomes 'pro'.
'blocked by' is an insertion indicator (I've seen this in other clues).
'excessive' becomes 'over' (I've seen this before).
The middle letter of 'pro' is 'r'.
'gno'+'r'='gnor'
'gnor' enclosing 'over' is 'GOVERNOR'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for governor that I've seen before include "Viceroy" , "Person in authority" , "US politician" , "Motor control to regulate speed" , "Official in charge of town/region" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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