Crossword Genius

Develop play oddly following cross into goal (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

expand

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'develop' is the definition.
(I know that develop is a kind of expand)

'play oddly following cross into goal' is the wordplay.
'play oddly' becomes 'pa' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'following' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'cross' becomes 'x' (an X is a cross).
'into' is an insertion indicator.
'goal' becomes 'end' (both can mean a purpose).
'pa' after 'x' is 'xpa'.
'xpa' going into 'end' is 'EXPAND'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for expand that I've seen before include "Become larger or more extensive" , "Walk through water" , "Dilate" , "Amplify" , "Distend" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.