Advisers keep losing a university key (7)

I believe the answer is:

retinue

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'advisers keep losing a university key' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'keep losing a university key' is the wordplay.
'keep' becomes 'retain' (synonyms).
'losing' suggests deleting specific letters.
'university key' becomes 'ue' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'retain' with 'a' taken away is 'retin'.
'retin'+'ue'='RETINUE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for retinue that I've seen before include "Attendants, followers" , "Group of followers" , "Train; attendants" , "Reunite (anag) - group of servants" , "Group attending a person" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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