Crossword Genius

Twenty losing head and heart (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

core

'heart' is the definition.
('core' can be a synonym of 'heart')

'twenty losing head' is the wordplay.
'twenty' becomes 'score' ('score' can be a synonym of 'twenty').
'losing head' means to remove the first letter.
'score' with its first letter taken away is 'CORE'.

'and' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for core that I've seen before include "Heart of the matter" , "Central part of an apple" , "Central or most important part of something" , "Central part of the Earth" , "Centre, heart" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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