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Aspired somehow to be spoken well of (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

praised

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'spoken well of' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'aspired somehow' is the wordplay.
'somehow' is an anagram indicator.
'aspired' with letters rearranged gives 'PRAISED'.

'to be' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for praised that I've seen before include "Acclaimed" , "Lauded, extolled" , "Exalted" , "Spoke well of" , "Spoke highly of" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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