Crossword Genius

Company attempts to include English cliques (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

coteries

'cliques' is the definition.
('coterie' can be a synonym of 'clique')

'company attempts to include english' is the wordplay.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'attempts' becomes 'tries' ('try' can be a synonym of 'attempt').
'to include' indicates putting letters inside.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'tries' going around 'e' is 'teries'.
'co'+'teries'='COTERIES'

(Other definitions for coteries that I've seen before include "'Inner circles, cliques (8)'" , "Exclusive circles, cliques" , "Exclusive groups" .)

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