Crossword Genius

Why row merited after a lot of work producing operetta (3,5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

the merry widow

'operetta' is the definition.
(operetta by Franz Lehar)

'why row merited after a lot of work' is the wordplay.
'after a lot of work' is an anagram indicator (letters must be worked into a new form).
'why'+'row'+'merited'='whyrowmerited'
'whyrowmerited' with letters rearranged gives 'THE MERRY WIDOW'.

'producing' is the link.

(Other definitions for the merry widow that I've seen before include "Franz Lehar operetta" , "show" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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