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Adviser thought to have advanced to highest level (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aide

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

'adviser' is the definition.

'thought to have advanced to highest level' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'advanced' could be 'a' and 'a' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ide' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aide that I've seen before include "Right-hand man/woman" , "Officer in attendance" , "Political assistant" , "Assistant to a more senior person" , "Leader's assistant" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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