Crossword Genius

Had a ball perhaps in The Man from Clare with leading director (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

danced

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

'had a ball perhaps' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'man from clare with leading director' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'dan' (**).
'from' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'clare' becomes 'ce' (I've seen this in other clues).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'leading' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'director' is 'd'.
'dan'+'ce'+'d'='DANCED'

'in the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for danced that I've seen before include "Tripped the light fantastic" , "Moved to music" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.