Crossword Genius

Envoys schedule time with Liberal from the South (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

legates

'envoys' is the definition.
(legate is a kind of envoy)

'schedule time with liberal from the south' is the wordplay.
'schedule' becomes 'set'.
'time' becomes 'age' (an age is a period of time).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'from the south' is a reversal indicator (in a down clue, letters go up).
'set'+'age'+'l'='setagel'
'setagel' back-to-front is 'LEGATES'.

(Other definitions for legates that I've seen before include "representatives" , "Pope's envoys" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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