Crossword Genius

Jumped to it, as the French are apt to do (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

leapt

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

'jumped' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'it as the french are apt to do' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is present in the answer.
'are' could be 'a' (short for 'are', historical unit of measurement) and 'a' is located in the answer.
'the french' could be 'le' ('the' in French) and 'le' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'p' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for leapt that I've seen before include "gone up dramatically" , "Jumped, sprang" , "moved up quickly" , "rose fast" , "Jumped on plate" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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