Jet perhaps coming alongside cutter? That's official (8)

I believe the answer is:

licensor

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'jet perhaps coming alongside cutter?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'that's official' is the wordplay.
'that's' becomes 'li' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'official' becomes 'censor' (censor is a kind of official).
'li'+'censor'='LICENSOR'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for licensor that I've seen before include "Permissive type" , "who grants permission?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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