Crossword Genius

Standard metal in rake (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

routine

'standard' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'metal in rake' is the wordplay.
'metal' becomes 'tin' (tin is a kind of metal**).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'rake' becomes 'roue' ('roue' can be a synonym of 'rake').
'tin' going inside 'roue' is 'ROUTINE'.

(Other definitions for routine that I've seen before include "Variety act" , "Fixed sequence of actions" , "Unvarying set of actions" , "As a rule" , "Typical -- in utero (anag)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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