Crossword Genius

Enlivened by article, I won on board (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animated

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'enlivened' is the definition.
('animate' can be a synonym of 'enliven')

'by article i won on board' is the wordplay.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'article' becomes 'an' (indefinite article).
'won on board' becomes 'mated' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'an' next to 'i' is 'ani'.
'ani'+'mated'='ANIMATED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for animated that I've seen before include "Lively - like cartoon films" , "Vibrant" , "'Lively, quick (8)'" , "in cartoon form" , "Vivacious in diamante" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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