Crossword Genius

Imitate one in opera hitting a note (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mimic

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'imitate' is the definition.
(I know that mimic is a more specific form of the action imitate)

'one in opera hitting a note' is the wordplay.
'one in opera hitting' becomes 'mimi' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'a note' becomes 'c' (musical note).
'mimi'+'c'='MIMIC'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mimic that I've seen before include "Mock" , "Imitate satirically" , "Act like" , "Impersonate" , "Caricature" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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