Crossword Genius

Fixer conducting initial ceremony is a pretender (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hypocrite

'a pretender' is the definition.
(I know that pretender can be written as hypocrite)

'fixer conducting initial ceremony' is the wordplay.
'fixer' becomes 'hypo' (I've seen this before).
'initial' suggests taking the first letters.
'ceremony' becomes 'rite' (rite is a kind of ceremony).
The first letter of 'conducting' is 'c'.
'hypo'+'c'+'rite'='HYPOCRITE'

'is' is the link.

(Other definitions for hypocrite that I've seen before include "fraud" , "For example, Tartuffe" , "Insincere person affecting virtue" , "Dissembler" , "One who does not practise what they preach" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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