Crossword Genius

Attempted to deceive comic in Detroit (5,2,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tried it on

'attempted to deceive' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'comic in detroit' is the wordplay.
'comic' is an anagram indicator (an unusual or comical spelling).
'in'+'detroit'='indetroit'
'indetroit' is an anagram of 'TRIED IT ON'.

(Another definition for tried it on that I've seen is " Attempted to deceive".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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