Develop epic tale modelled around cross (9)
I believe the answer is:
explicate
'develop' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'epic tale modelled around cross' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'around' could be 'ca' (circa) and 'ca' is found in the answer.
'cross' could be 'x' (an X is a cross) and 'x' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for explicate that I've seen is " - Jones, Whitehall Banqueting House architect".)