Crossword Genius

Encouraged war reporter encircling ancient hideout one duke's abandoned (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

emboldened

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

'encouraged' is the definition.
(emboldening is a kind of encouraging)

'war reporter encircling ancient hideout one duke's abandoned' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'ancient' could be 'olden' (as in the olden days) and 'olden' is located in the answer.
'duke' could be 'd' (abbreviation) and 'd' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for emboldened that I've seen is " Given courage".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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