Crossword Genius

Army leader delayed in outing cabal (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

junta

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

'cabal' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'army leader delayed in outing' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'army' could be 'ta' (abbreviation for Territorial Army) and 'ta' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'jun' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for junta that I've seen before include "Group of military rulers" , "meeting" , "Group heading a military government" , "Military clique of rulers" , "post-coup government" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.