Crossword Genius

Crack swimmer claiming victory (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

solve

'crack' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'swimmer claiming victory' is the wordplay.
'swimmer' becomes 'sole' (sole is a kind of aquatic vertebrate**).
'claiming' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'victory' becomes 'v'.
'sole' going around 'v' is 'SOLVE'.

(Other definitions for solve that I've seen before include "Unravel (a clue)" , "Voles (anag.)" , "Find an answer to (a problem)" , "Complete crossword" , "Find the solution to puzzle or problem" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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