Crossword Genius

Venetian magistrate naked on vacation, showing butt (3-3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dog-end

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

'venetian magistrate naked on vacation' is the wordplay.
'venetian magistrate' becomes 'doge' (historical term for the chief magistrate of Venice).
'on vacation' means to remove the middle letters (after the inside letters have vacated the word).
'naked' with its centre removed is 'nd'.
'doge'+'nd'='DOG-END'

'showing' acts as a link.

(Another definition for dog-end that I've seen is " Cigarette butt".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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