Crossword Genius

Aware of two men down (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

knowing

'aware of' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'two men down' is the wordplay.
'two men' can mean two substitutions for 'man'.
'man' becomes 'k' (abbreviation for king, a chess man).
'man' becomes 'n' (knight, a man in chess).
'down' becomes 'owing' (e.g. money).
'k'+'n'+'owing'='KNOWING'

(Other definitions for knowing that I've seen before include "Fly" , "State of awareness" , "Experienced; intelligent" , "Meaningful" , "Cunning" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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