New way to the top beginning to emerge (7)

I believe the answer is:

nascent

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'the top beginning to emerge' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'new way' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'way' becomes 'ascent' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'n'+'ascent'='NASCENT'

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nascent that I've seen before include "Dawning" , "Promising potential" , "Freshly generated" , "Budding early" , "coming into circulation?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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