Crossword Genius

Words at back of US magazine Time for long-term residents (4,8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

life sentence

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'time for long-term residents' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'words at back of us magazine' is the wordplay.
'words' becomes 'sentence' (I've seen this before).
'at back of' says to put letters next to each other.
'us magazine' becomes 'life' (Life is a US magazine).
'sentence' after 'life' is 'LIFE SENTENCE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for life sentence that I've seen before include "Long-term punishment" , "Judges may confirm such" , "Long prison stay" , "Gideon was born, later he died?" , "Maximum stretch?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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