Criticise court aspirant (9)

I believe the answer is:

candidate

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'aspirant' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'criticise court' is the wordplay.
'criticise' becomes 'candi' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'court' becomes 'date' (romantically pursue).
'candi'+'date'='CANDIDATE'

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(Other definitions for candidate that I've seen before include "Detain cad seeking appointment" , "Applicant, nominee 99)" , "One hoping to be chosen" , "Person seeking office or appointment" , "who tries to get elected?" .)

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

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