Crossword Genius

Charlie leaves a group chat crudely making sign (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

autograph

'sign' is the definition.
(autographing is a kind of signing)

'charlie leaves a group chat crudely' is the wordplay.
'charlie' becomes 'c' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'leaves' suggests deleting specific letters.
'crudely' indicates anagramming the letters.
'a'+'group'+'chat'='agroupchat'
'agroupchat' with 'c' taken out is 'agrouphat'.
'agrouphat' with letters rearranged gives 'AUTOGRAPH'.

'making' is the link.

(Other definitions for autograph that I've seen before include "Sign" , "Signer will give this" , "(Celebrity's) signature" , "One's signature" , "a collector's item perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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