Crossword Genius

Enjoying realised ambition, having led with merit at sea (6,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

living the dream

'enjoying realised ambition' is the definition.
(a dream is an ambition)

'having led with merit at sea' is the wordplay.
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'at sea' indicates anagramming the letters.
'having'+'led'+'merit'='havingledmerit'
'havingledmerit' is an anagram of 'LIVING THE DREAM'.

(Another definition for living the dream that I've seen is " doing everything you want".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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