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With new chief's pal, rent it initially (2,3,5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

in the first place

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'with' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'new chief's pal rent it initially' is the wordplay.
'new' is an anagram indicator.
'initially' says to put letters next to each other (some letters go before others).
'pal'+'rent'+'it'='palrentit'
'chiefs' put after 'palrentit' is 'palrentitchiefs'.
'palrentitchiefs' with letters rearranged gives 'IN THE FIRST PLACE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for in the first place that I've seen before include "for a start" , "Where the winner would be" , "Initially" , "Where Adam and Eve sinned" , "Where Adam and Eve lived" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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