Crossword Genius

Valley boy going back to village finally (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dale

'valley' is the definition.
(dale is a kind of valley)

'boy going back to village finally' is the wordplay.
'boy' becomes 'lad' (lad is a kind of boy**).
'going back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'to' says to put letters next to each other.
'finally' says to take the final letters.
The final letter of 'village' is 'e'.
'lad' reversed gives 'dal'.
'dal'+'e'='DALE'

(Other definitions for dale that I've seen before include "Open valley" , "depression" , "Up hill and down . . . ." , "Low ground" , "An English valley" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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