Crossword Genius

Difficulty surrounding start of game leading to variable game (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rugby

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'game' is the definition.
(rugby is a kind of game)

'difficulty surrounding start of game leading to variable' is the wordplay.
'difficulty' becomes 'rub' (rub is a kind of difficulty).
'surrounding' is an insertion indicator.
'start of game leading' becomes 'g' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to variable' becomes 'y' (I've seen this in other clues).
'rub' placed around 'g' is 'rugb'.
'rugb'+'y'='RUGBY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rugby that I've seen before include "Game named after school" , "Type of football; school" , "Game with oval ball" , "Famous public school" , "Town in Warwickshire" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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