To complete her name takes a mere trice (3)
I believe the answer is:
bea
'to complete her' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'name takes a mere trice' is the wordplay.
'name' becomes 'Ab'.
'takes' is a deletion indicator.
'mere trice' becomes 'ea' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ab' with 'a' taken away is 'b'.
'b'+'ea'='BEA'
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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