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Terrible fate, Rex! Relieved of duty! (3-4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tax-free

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'relieved of duty' is the definition.
The answer and definition are different parts of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives sometimes mean the same thing.

'terrible fate rex' is the wordplay.
'terrible' indicates anagramming the letters.
'fate'+'rex'='faterex'
'faterex' anagrammed gives 'TAX-FREE'.

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(Other definitions for tax-free that I've seen before include "Not subject to impost" , "Exempt from duty" , "Eg, VAT exempt" , "Exempt from tariffs" , "Exempt from levies" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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