Crossword Genius

Extremely valuable tracks a great deal (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

very

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'a great deal' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'extremely valuable tracks' is the wordplay.
'extremely' means to remove the middle letters.
'tracks' becomes 'ry'.
'valuable' with its centre removed is 've'.
've'+'ry'='VERY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for very that I've seen before include "Extremely - light" , "Ever so" , "Frightfully" , "Truly" , "Real" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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