Sodium smell beginning to appear (7)

I believe the answer is:

nascent

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

'sodium smell' is the wordplay.
'sodium' becomes 'NA' (chemical symbol).
'smell' becomes 'scent' (scent is a kind of smell).
'na'+'scent'='NASCENT'

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(Other definitions for nascent that I've seen before include "Beginning to show signs of potential" , "Coming alive" , "Emerging, in the process of being born" , "Beginning to develop, embryonic" , "being developed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.

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