Crossword Genius

… claims every side's lacking depth (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

alleges

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

'every side's lacking depth' is the wordplay.
'every' becomes 'al' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'side's' becomes 'ledges'.
'lacking' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'depth' becomes 'd' (abbreviation in geometry).
'ledges' with 'd' removed is 'leges'.
'al'+'leges'='ALLEGES'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for alleges that I've seen before include "States without proof" , "Declares to be the case without proof" , "Asserts without proof" , "Claims" , "Holds" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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