Crossword Genius

Unable to see balls directly, soon affected by BO possibly returning (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

snookered

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'returning' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives can sometimes define each other.

'unable to see balls directly soon affected by bo' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'balls' could be 'ed' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'ed' is found within the answer.
an anagram of 'soon' is 'snoo' which is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'possibly' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for snookered that I've seen before include "blocked" , "Thwarted" , "Put in difficult position" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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