Crossword Genius

Having some power to bond with opponent in camp (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

trivalent

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'having some power to bond' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'opponent in camp' is the wordplay.
'opponent' becomes 'rival' (a rival is an opponent or enemy).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'camp' becomes 'tent' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'rival' put inside 'tent' is 'TRIVALENT'.

'with' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for trivalent that I've seen before include "Able to combine with or displace three hydrogen atoms" , "with a number of bonds" , "Combining well" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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