Crossword Genius

English solicitor imports ash tree? No, a gnarled pine (3,4,5,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eat ones heart out

'pine' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'english solicitor imports ash tree? no a gnarled' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'solicitor' becomes 'tout' (I've seen this before).
'imports' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'gnarled' indicates an anagram (gnarled can mean twisted).
'e'+'tout'='etout'
'ash'+'tree'+'no'+'a'='ashtreenoa'
'ashtreenoa' is an anagram of 'atoneshear'.
'etout' going around 'atoneshear' is 'EAT ONES HEART OUT'.

(Other definitions for eat ones heart out that I've seen before include "brood over misfortune" , "pine" , "Suffer through brooding over misfortune" , "long" , "Suffer from excessive longing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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