Very good stars showing blemishes (7)
I believe the answer is:
defaces
'blemishes' is the definition.
('deface' can be a synonym of 'blemish')
'very good stars' is the wordplay.
'very good' becomes 'def' (def can informally mean excellent).
'stars' becomes 'aces' ('ace' can be a synonym of 'star').
'def'+'aces'='DEFACES'
'showing' acts as a link.
I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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