Cross and somewhat belligerent (5)

I believe the answer is:

liger

'cross' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'somewhat belligerent' is the wordplay.
'somewhat' indicates a hidden word.
'LIGER' can be found hidden inside 'belligerent'.

'and' is the link.

(Other definitions for liger that I've seen before include "Cross between 21 down and 1 down" , "Big cat" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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