Crossword Genius

Take away starter of tempura transported back (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

detract

'take away' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'starter of tempura transported back' is the wordplay.
'starter of' suggests taking the first letters.
'transported' becomes 'carted' (carting is a kind of transporting).
'back' says the letters should be written backwards.
The initial letter of 'tempura' is 't'.
't'+'carted'='tcarted'
'tcarted' in reverse letter order is 'DETRACT'.

(Other definitions for detract that I've seen before include "Reduce value" , "Devaluate" , "Take away a part of, lower in value" , "Take away (from worth)" , "Slight" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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