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Group participating in Monopoly react badly, beginning to lose (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cartel

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'group participating in monopoly' is the definition.
'cartel' can be an answer for 'monopoly' (I've seen this in another clue). I am not certain of the 'group participating in' bit.

'react badly beginning to lose' is the wordplay.
'badly' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in the wrong order).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'lose' is 'l'.
'react' with letters rearranged gives 'carte'.
'carte'+'l'='CARTEL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cartel that I've seen before include "Bloc" , "Firms operating together, illegally" , "Price-fixing group" , "Business combination to limit competition" , "Anti-competitive group for claret" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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