Crossword Genius

General place to study poems cut by a line (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

universal

'general' is the definition.
('universal' can be a synonym of 'general')

'place to study poems cut by a line' is the wordplay.
'place to study' becomes 'uni'.
'poems' becomes 'verse' (I've seen this before).
'cut' means to remove the last letter.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'line' becomes 'l'.
'verse' with its last letter taken off is 'vers'.
'uni'+'vers'+'a'+'l'='UNIVERSAL'

(Other definitions for universal that I've seen before include "All-inclusive" , "Applicable to all cases" , "Film producer" , "Widespread, worldwide" , "Found everywhere" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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