Crossword Genius

It dries off wet piece of earthenware a lot (3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tea towel

'it dries' is the definition.

'off wet piece of earthenware a lot' is the wordplay.
'off' indicates an anagram.
'piece of' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'earthenware' is 'e'.
'wet'+'e'+'a'+'lot'='wetealot'
'wetealot' anagrammed gives 'TEA-TOWEL'.

(Other definitions for tea towel that I've seen before include "Wee total (anag) - drier" , "Washing-up cloth" , "Washing-up drier" , "Kitchen drier" , "Drying-up cloth" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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