Impudence to steal part of skeleton (9)

I believe the answer is:

cheekbone

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'part of skeleton' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'impudence to steal' is the wordplay.
'impudence' becomes 'cheek' (synonyms).
'to steal' becomes 'bone' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cheek'+'bone'='CHEEKBONE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cheekbone that I've seen before include "Structure beneath the eye" , "part of skeleton" , "Part of facial structure" , "face constituent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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