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Capitulates and gives the cake free (6,2,3,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

throws in the sponge

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

'capitulates' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'and gives the cake free' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is present in the answer.
'gives' could be 'throws' ('throw' can be a synonym of 'give') and 'throws' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is located in the answer.
'cake' could be 'sponge' (sponge cake is a kind of cake) and 'sponge' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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