Crossword Genius

Cut up hake woman gutted (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hewn

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'cut' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'up hake woman gutted' is the wordplay.
'up hake' becomes 'he' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'gutted' suggests removing the centre (to gut something is to remove its insides).
'woman' with its centre removed is 'wn'.
'he'+'wn'='HEWN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hewn that I've seen before include "Cut with blows" , "Felled" , "Chopped roughly" , "Hacked" , "Cut with an axe or chisel" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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