Crossword Genius

How fee was obtained from free flight (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rout

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

'flight' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Headlong flight ' mean 'rout' so perhaps 'flight' could also mean 'rout')

'how fee was obtained from free' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'from' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'rut' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rout that I've seen before include "Defeat comprehensively" , "Total defeat in battle" , "snore" , "Drubbing" , "Inflict heavy defeat on" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.
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