They determine the regularity of beatings (12)
I believe the answer is:
stethoscopes
'beatings' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'they determine the regularity of' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'the' is 'eth' which is within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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