Crossword Genius

Scratch Zola review, bagging one article printed in books (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eliminate

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'scratch' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'zola review bagging one article printed in books' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'one' could be 'li' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'li' is found in the answer.
'article' could be 'a' (the indefinite article in English) and 'a' is present in the answer.
'in' is within the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eliminate that I've seen before include "waste" , "Exclude from further stage of competition" , "Eradicate" , "put out" , "Completely remove, get rid of" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.