Crossword Genius

Concluded popular female made a mistake (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

inferred

'concluded' is the definition.
(inferring is a kind of concluding)

'popular female made a mistake' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in'.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'made a mistake' becomes 'erred' ('err' can be a synonym of 'make a mistake').
'in'+'f'+'erred'='INFERRED'

(Other definitions for inferred that I've seen before include "'Concluded, judged from the facts (8)'" , "Deduced by reasoning" , "Conjectured" , "Rein Fred in because he deduced" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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