Crossword Genius

Wager about rising power near Epping (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

beecroft

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'near epping' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether this works.

'wager about rising power' is the wordplay.
'wager' becomes 'bet' (synonyms).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'rising' is a reversal indicator (going up in a down clue).
'power' becomes 'force' (force is a kind of power).
'force' written backwards gives 'ecrof'.
'bet' enclosing 'ecrof' is 'BEECROFT'.

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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