Cross, maybe, in response to a tomato sauce (7)

I believe the answer is:

passata

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

'cross maybe in response to a' is the wordplay.
'cross' becomes 'pass'.
'maybe in response' becomes 'at' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'pass'+'at'+'a'='PASSATA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for passata that I've seen before include "Sieved tomato puree" , "Tomato sauce" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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