Crossword Genius

Earn editor's backing and be good enough (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deserve

'earn' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'editor's backing and be good enough' is the wordplay.
'editor' becomes 'ed' (abbreviation).
'backing' is a reversal indicator.
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'be good enough' becomes 'serve' (serve can mean to be good enough for a purpose).
'ed' written backwards gives 'de'.
'de'+'serve'='DESERVE'

(Other definitions for deserve that I've seen before include "Justify" , "Show one is worthy" , "rate" , "Merit, earn" , "Severed (anag)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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