Crossword Genius

Boat nearly departed with wrong load (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gondola

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

'boat' is the definition.
(I know that gondola is a type of boat)

'nearly departed with wrong load' is the wordplay.
'nearly' means to remove the last letter.
'departed' becomes 'gone' ('go' can be a synonym of 'depart').
'with wrong load' becomes 'dola' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'gone' with its final letter taken off is 'gon'.
'gon'+'dola'='GONDOLA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gondola that I've seen before include "Shop unit" , "Craft for Venetian canals" , "Boat on Venetian canals" , "Venetian transport" , "Traditional boat of Venice" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.