Heartless puzzle today unfortunately – comprehensively beaten (9)

I believe the answer is:

outplayed

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'comprehensively beaten' is the definition.
'outplayed' can be an answer for 'beaten' (outplaying is a kind of beating). I'm not certain of the 'comprehensively' bit.

'heartless puzzle today unfortunately' is the wordplay.
'heartless' suggests removing the centre.
'unfortunately' is an anagram indicator (a bad or unfortunate spelling).
'puzzle' with its middle taken out is 'pule'.
'pule'+'today'='puletoday'
'puletoday' with letters rearranged gives 'OUTPLAYED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for outplayed that I've seen before include "Performed better than" , "Well beaten" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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