Crossword Genius

Encourage a new partner to go round India (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animate

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

'a new partner to go round india' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (abbreviation as in New Testament NT).
'partner' becomes 'mate' (synonyms).
'to go round' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'india' becomes 'i' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'mate' put after 'i' is 'imate'.
'a'+'n'+'imate'='ANIMATE'

(Other definitions for animate that I've seen before include "Inspire" , "Infuse with life" , "Fire" , "Put life into as with cartoon" , "Enliven like cartoon" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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