Day-long, reeds regularly dropped into the sea (7)

I believe the answer is:

ditched

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'dropped into the sea' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'day-long reeds regularly' is the wordplay.
'day' becomes 'd' (abbreviation for day).
'long' becomes 'itch' (to long or itch for something is to desire it).
'regularly' means one should take alternating letters (regularly take one letter, leave next etc.).
The alternate letters of 'reeds' are 'ed'.
'd'+'itch'+'ed'='DITCHED'

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(Other definitions for ditched that I've seen before include "Dumped" , "Left in the lurch or landed plane in sea" , "Got rid of" , "Of plane, made forced landing on sea" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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