Crossword Genius

Vacuous, some vague ramble gets you violent (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

severe

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'violent' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'vacuous some vague ramble' is the wordplay.
'vacuous' suggests removing the centre.
'vague ramble' becomes 'vere' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'some' with its centre removed is 'se'.
'se'+'vere'='SEVERE'

'gets you' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for severe that I've seen before include "Austere, serious" , "Formal - unsmiling" , "Extreme and difficult to endure" , "Unsparing and uncompromising" , "Stern, austere" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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