Crossword Genius

Hope for as before, when I enter (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aspire

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'hope for' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'as before when i enter' is the wordplay.
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'when' becomes 'pre' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'enter' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'pre' going around 'i' is 'pire'.
'as'+'pire'='ASPIRE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aspire that I've seen before include "Hope (to achieve)" , "Have lofty aims" , "Hanker" , "Earnestly desire (to achieve something)" , "Have ambition or desire for praise" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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