Crossword Genius

Unusually competent, suppressing Right with singular argument (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

contretemps

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'argument' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'unusually competent suppressing right with singular' is the wordplay.
'unusually' indicates an anagram.
'suppressing' says to put letters next to each other (in a down clue, some letters go on top of others).
'right' becomes 'r' (common abbreviation).
'with singular' becomes 's' (abbreviation sometimes used in dictionaries. I am not sure about the 'with' bit.).
'competent'+'r'='competentr'
'competentr' anagrammed gives 'contretemp'.
'contretemp'+'s'='CONTRETEMPS'

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(Other definitions for contretemps that I've seen before include "Unexpected mishap" , "Awkward occurrence or situation" , "Unexpected embarrassment" , "Prescott men (anag) - awkward moment" , "Minor disagreement" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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