Figure skating initially smooth (5)

I believe the answer is:

seven

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'figure' is the definition.
(I know that seven is a type of figure)

'skating initially smooth' is the wordplay.
'skating initially' becomes 's' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'smooth' becomes 'even' (similar in meaning).
's'+'even'='SEVEN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for seven that I've seen before include "Wonders of the World - Deadly Sins" , "Little friends of ..." , "Number of seas sailed?" , "number of swans aswimming" , "Number of dwarfs (or deadly sins)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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