Crossword Genius

Suppress article comprising deterioration of empty town hall (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

throttle

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

'suppress' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'article comprising deterioration of empty town hall' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'deterioration' could be 'rot' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'rot' is found within the answer.
'empty' could be 'e' (abbreviation e.g. on guages) and 'e' is present in the answer.
'town' could be 't' (common abbreviation eg in football team names) and 't' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for throttle that I've seen before include "Check" , "Strangle the fuel valve" , "Choke, strangle" , "Strangle with car part" , "Fuel-regulating valve in an engine" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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