Crossword Genius

Freely answer Democrat politician (2,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ad lib

'freely' is the definition.
(short for ad libitum, 'at one's pleasure' in Latin)

'answer democrat politician' is the wordplay.
'answer' becomes 'a' (abbreviation eg in Q and A).
'democrat' becomes 'd'.
'politician' becomes 'lib'.
'a'+'d'+'lib'='AD-LIB'

(Other definitions for ad lib that I've seen before include "Addition to speech" , "Off-the-cuff remark" , "Made-up" , "Improvised" , "As You Like It?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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