Crossword Genius

Initially a king; possibly raise to an emperor (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

kaiser

'to an emperor' is the definition.
(German term for emperor)

'initially a king possibly raise' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'possibly' indicates an anagram.
The first letter of 'king' is 'k'.
'raise' anagrammed gives 'aiser'.
'k'+'aiser'='KAISER'

(Other definitions for kaiser that I've seen before include "Ruler over empire" , "Old German emperor, pre-Hitler" , "Old German emperor like Bill" , "Former German emperor" , "Emperor of Austria or Germany until 1918" .)

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