Cryptic crossword clue
Old man’s sweetheart portrayed as 20 by 28 4

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 letter word JOAN

I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
J
O
A
N

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The straight part
We know that "Old man’s sweetheart/portrayed as 20 by 28" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old man’s sweetheart/portrayed as 20 by 28 = joan.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

Crossword Answer definitions

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