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After game, soldiers in A&E say sorry (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

apologise

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'say sorry' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'after game soldiers in ae' is the wordplay.
'after game' becomes 'polo' (polo is a kind of game. I am not sure about the 'after' bit.**).
'soldiers' becomes 'gis' (I've seen this in other clues).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'polo'+'gis'='pologis'
'pologis' going into 'ae' is 'APOLOGISE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for apologise that I've seen before include "Say one is sorry" , "Express regret for a wrong (S, not Z)" , "put things straight" , "Recognise fault" , "Say sorry, my mistake" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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