Crossword Genius

Copy most of answers, admitting woeful act (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

replicate

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'copy' is the definition.
(I know that copy can be written as replicate)

'most of answers admitting woeful act' is the wordplay.
'most of' means to remove the last letter.
'answers' becomes 'replies' (to reply is to give an answer).
'admitting' is an insertion indicator (admit can mean to welcome in or accept).
'woeful act' becomes 'cat' (CAT is an example. I am not sure about the 'woeful' bit.).
'replies' with its final letter taken off is 'replie'.
'replie' placed around 'cat' is 'REPLICATE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for replicate that I've seen before include "Copy, reproduce" , "Make an exact copy of" , "Copy exactly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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