Crossword Genius

Playing Eton fives -- but not fit, however (4,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

even so

'however' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'playing eton fives but not fit' is the wordplay.
'playing' is an anagram indicator.
'but not' suggests deleting specific letters.
'eton'+'fives'='etonfives'
'etonfives' with 'fit' taken out is 'eonves'.
'eonves' is an anagram of 'EVEN SO'.

(Other definitions for even so that I've seen before include "Despite that, nevertheless" , "anyway" , "however" , "yet" , "'Despite, still (4,2)'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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