Sooner (6)
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">sooner</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">('I'd sooner do this' means 'I'd rather do this')</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for rather that I've seen before include "On the contrary; more precisely" , "More precisely; instead of" , "Prefer" , "To a certain extent" , "Yes, please!" .)
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">sooner</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(synonyms)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for earlier that I've seen before include "Sooner in time" , "Formerly" , "Rare lie (anag)" , "Beforehand" , "Further back in time" .)
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">sooner</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this in another clue)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>