Crossword Genius

Gave mob boss a figure, reportedly five hundred? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

donated

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'gave' is the definition.
(donating is a kind of giving)

'mob boss a figure reportedly five hundred?' is the wordplay.
'mob boss' becomes 'don' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a figure' becomes 'eight' (eight is a number).
'reportedly' shows a homophone (sound like).
'five hundred?' becomes 'D' (Roman numeral for 500).
'eight' sounds like 'ate'.
'don'+'ate'+'d'='DONATED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for donated that I've seen before include "Presented" , "Gave" , "Given" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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