Crossword Genius

Entrenched Republican suggested removing leader (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rooted

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

'entrenched' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'republican suggested removing leader' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'ro' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'suggested' becomes 'voted' (I've seen this before).
'removing leader' means to remove the first letter.
'voted' with its first letter removed is 'oted'.
'ro'+'oted'='ROOTED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rooted that I've seen before include "Firmly established in a plantlike way" , "Fixed in place like plants in soil" , "Stuck to the spot" , "Firmly established and well planted" , "(Of new cutting) firmly established" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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