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Starter of chickpeas, honey and a little garlic (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

clove

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

'a little garlic' is the definition.
'clove' can be an answer for 'garlic' (clove is a kind of garlic). I'm unsure of the 'a little' bit.

'starter of chickpeas honey' is the wordplay.
'starter of' says to take the initial letters.
'honey' becomes 'love' ('love' can be a synonym of 'honey').
The initial letter of 'chickpeas' is 'c'.
'c'+'love'='CLOVE'

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for clove that I've seen before include "Garlic segment" , "Aromatic bud" , "Spice, used whole or ground" , "Flower bud used as a spice" , "A spice; a garlic bulb" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and the Irish Times.
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