Crossword Genius

Dig up former explorer (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exhume

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'dig up' is the definition.
(I know that exhume is a type of dig up)

'former explorer' is the wordplay.
'former' becomes 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime).
'explorer' becomes 'hume' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ex'+'hume'='EXHUME'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for exhume that I've seen before include "Dig up (a corpse)" , "Dig up (a body)" , "Disinter a dead body" , "Dig up, unearth" , "opposite of 5 [ENTOMB]" .)

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