Crossword Genius

Undone by game against Home Counties (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

loose

'undone' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'game against home counties' is the wordplay.
'game' becomes 'loo' (historic card game found in Jane Austen novels**).
'against' says to put letters next to each other.
'home counties' becomes 'se'.
'loo'+'se'='LOOSE'

'by' is the link.

(Other definitions for loose that I've seen before include "escaped!" , "Freed" , "Release" , "Showing fast behaviour" , "Unfixed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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