Crossword Genius

In credit, having debtors, was exultant (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crowed

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

'was exultant' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'in credit having debtors' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'credit' could be 'cr' (abbreviation) and 'cr' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'owed' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for crowed that I've seen before include "was triumphant" , "Boasted" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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