Crossword Genius

How to ride when the horse runs apace? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

astride

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'how' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?

'ride when the horse runs apace?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'when' could be 'as' (eg 'when I walked' means 'as I walked') and 'as' is found within the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
'horse' could be 'ride' (animal that can be ridden) and 'ride' is found within the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for astride that I've seen before include "With feet apart" , "It dares to be with legs wider apart" , "Passing across" , "With a leg on both sides" , "With legs on each side" .)

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