Crossword Genius

Yank's jack and king capturing queen (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

jerk

'yank's' is the definition.
('jerk' can be a synonym of 'yank')

'jack and king capturing queen' is the wordplay.
'jack' becomes 'j' (playing card abbreviation).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'king' becomes 'k'.
'capturing' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'queen' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
'j'+'k'='jk'
'jk' enclosing 'er' is 'JERK'.

(Other definitions for jerk that I've seen before include "Tug suddenly" , "Short sudden movement - idiot" , "contemptibly foolish person" , "Yank, idiot" , "fool" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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