Coal scattered about sewer (6)
I believe the answer is:
cloaca
'sewer' is the definition.
(I know that sewer can be written as cloaca)
'coal scattered about' is the wordplay.
'scattered' indicates an anagram.
'about' becomes 'ca' (abbreviation for 'circa').
'coal' anagrammed gives 'cloa'.
'cloa'+'ca'='CLOACA'
(Another definition for cloaca that I've seen is " Ancient sewer".)
I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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