Crossword Genius

Constables cooked plaice aboard ship? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

specials

'constables' is the definition.
(short for special constables)

'cooked plaice aboard ship?' is the wordplay.
'cooked' indicates an anagram (letters cooked into a new form).
'aboard' indicates putting letters inside.
'ship?' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'plaice' is an anagram of 'pecial'.
'pecial' put within 'ss' is 'SPECIALS'.

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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