Crossword Genius

He almost sailed back (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

elias

'he' is the definition.

'almost sailed back' is the wordplay.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'back' is a reversal indicator.
'sailed' with its final letter taken off is 'saile'.
'saile' written backwards gives 'ELIAS'.

(Other definitions for elias that I've seen before include "Hebrew prophet" , "Fellow" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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