Crossword Genius

Wise man that has time off initially, between degrees (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mahatma

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'wise man' is the definition.
(I know that mahatma is a type of sage)

'time off initially between degrees' is the wordplay.
'time off initially' becomes 'hat' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'between' is an insertion indicator.
'degrees' becomes 'MA MA' (two abbreviations for Master of Arts degree).
'hat' inserted into 'mama' is 'MAHATMA'.

'that has' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mahatma that I've seen before include "Adept" , "Wise fellow" , "Great Soul, as Gandhi was called" , "Sage (as e.g. Gandhi)" , "(Indian) holy person or sage" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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