Friendly as Delilah could never quite be (6)

I believe the answer is:

allied

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'friendly as delilah could never' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'quite be' is the wordplay.
'quite' becomes 'all' (I've seen this before).
'be' becomes 'ied' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'all'+'ied'='ALLIED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for allied that I've seen before include "Joined by treaty or agreement" , "Joined to, combined with" , "Joined in friendship, treaty, etc" , "Connected, related" , "Owl's cry" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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