Crossword Genius

Excuse sailor only capturing Victory's leader (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

absolve

'excuse' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'sailor only capturing victory's leader' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'only' becomes 'sole' ('sole' can be a synonym of 'only').
'capturing' is an insertion indicator.
'leader' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'victorys' is 'v'.
'sole' enclosing 'v' is 'solve'.
'ab'+'solve'='ABSOLVE'

(Other definitions for absolve that I've seen before include "Forgive sins" , "Grant remission of sins" , "Set free from guilt" , "Let off the hook" , "Declare (someone) blameless" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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