Crossword Genius

Comedian Tommy had to play ball (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cooperate

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

'comedian tommy had' is the wordplay.
'comedian tommy' becomes 'cooper' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'had' becomes 'ate' (e.g. I had an ice cream).
'cooper'+'ate'='COOPERATE'

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cooperate that I've seen before include "getting act together" , "work hand in glove" , "Play ball with" , "Work together on a common enterprise" , "Work constructively with others" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun.
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