Crossword Genius

Accepts the queen ought to lead society (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shoulders

'accepts' is the definition.

'the queen ought to lead society' is the wordplay.
'the queen' becomes 'er' (Elizabeth Regina).
'ought' becomes 'should' ('should' can be a synonym of 'ought').
'to lead' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
'er' put after 'should' is 'shoulder'.
'shoulder'+'s'='SHOULDERS'

(Another definition for shoulders that I've seen is " Sure holds up these joints".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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