Crossword Genius

Juliet pares ragged stone (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

jasper

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

'juliet pares ragged' is the wordplay.
'juliet' becomes 'j' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'ragged' indicates an anagram.
'pares' is an anagram of 'asper'.
'j'+'asper'='JASPER'

(Other definitions for jasper that I've seen before include "Semi-precious form of quartz" , "Gemstone" , "stone used by jewellers" , "Opaque quartz" , "A man" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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