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Young male forward fed a bit of rancid fat (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lardon

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'fat' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'young male forward fed a bit of rancid' is the wordplay.
'young male' becomes 'lad' (I've seen this in another clue).
'forward' becomes 'on'.
'fed' indicates putting letters inside (one word is 'fed' to another).
'a bit of' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'rancid' is 'r'.
'lad'+'on'='ladon'
'ladon' enclosing 'r' is 'LARDON'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lardon that I've seen before include "bit of a roasting" , "Strip of bacon for roasting meat" , "Strip or small cube of fatty bacon" , "Small piece of bacon used in cooking" , "strip of fat" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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