Crossword Genius

Lubricant left following Love Island (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

oil

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

'left following love island' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'love' becomes 'o' (In tennis, 'love' means 'zero').
'island' becomes 'i'.
'o'+'i'='oi'
'l' put after 'oi' is 'OIL'.

(Other definitions for oil that I've seen before include "valuable commodity" , "SECOND PART OF 23" , "painting" , "Liquid lubricant" , "Liquid gold" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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