Crossword Genius

Director general welcomes the German back from Spain to do some work on ocean liner? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dredge

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

'spain to do some work on ocean liner?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'director general welcomes the german back' is the wordplay.
'director' becomes 'd'.
'general welcomes' becomes 'eg' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the german' becomes 'der' ('the' in German).
'back' is a reversal indicator.
'eg'+'der'='egder'
'egder' backwards is 'redge'.
'd'+'redge'='DREDGE'

'from' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dredge that I've seen before include "Sprinkle flour" , "Clean mud as from silted harbour" , "(Of harbour or river) make deeper" , "Clear (riverbed)" , "Clear river bottom" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and The Irish Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app