Correctly, she led true North but someone got in first (5,3,7)

I believe the answer is:

stole her thunder

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'someone got in first' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'correctly she led true north' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'she' could be 'de' and 'de' is found within the answer.
'north' could be 'n' (synonyms) and 'n' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'but' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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