Parsing

[hankir]

Here is the clue from today's Azed.

This use was not widely practised in the old church- it's odd (5)
?ARUM

The answer seems to be SARUM for Sarum rite practised in the church.

Odd =rum

How to explain SA in the beginning?

Thanks for any help.

[factor-fiction]

Is it anything to do with SAW minus the W for widely?
Otherwise I can't see why the words 'This use was not widely' are in the clue

[factor-fiction]

^ I meant WAS not SAW but the word 'use' could indicate an anagram

[bibblebub]

it = S.A.

sex appeal, as embodied by the it girl

[bibblebub]

...Clara Bow was (I think) the first to be given that nickname https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Bow

[factor-fiction]

Thanks bibblebub.
That sounds like a term from the 1960s.
I don't fully understand the first part of the clue though

[factor-fiction]

Thanks for the link- clearly the term originated much earlier than the 1960s then

[bibblebub]

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_girl dates it well before then, and it in that sense was used even by Kipling in 1904

[bibblebub]

as for the 1st part of the clue, it certainly tallies with the definition of Sarum Rite as given here http://www.tfd.com/Sarum+rite

the distinctive local rite or system of rites used at Salisbury cathedral in late medieval times

i.e. only practised local and and a long time ago

[factor-fiction]

Okay, thanks bibblebub.

[hankir]

Thank you both, factor-fiction and bibblebub.

I am going with Sarum. We will see if that is what AZED had in mind.

it =sa and odd = rum.