Flattened by a hard man (6)

I believe the answer is:

ironed

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

'a hard man' is the wordplay.
'a hard' becomes 'iro' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'man' becomes 'ned' (man's name).
'iro'+'ned'='IRONED'

'by' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ironed that I've seen before include "flattened" , "prepared for 23 [WARDROBE] ?" , "Decreased?" , "Given a press" , "Made smooth, shirt or collar" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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