Crossword Genius

Driven leader avoids fools (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deludes

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'fools' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'driven leader avoids' is the wordplay.
'driven leader' becomes 'd' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'avoids' becomes 'eludes' (eluding is a kind of avoiding).
'd'+'eludes'='DELUDES'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deludes that I've seen before include "Deceives (as to truth)" , "Tricks" , "Fools" , "dupes" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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