Lead to secure entrance (9)

I believe the answer is:

spellbind

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

'entrance' is the definition.
(I know that entrance can be written as spellbind)

'lead to secure' is the wordplay.
'lead to' becomes 'spell' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'secure' becomes 'bind' (binding is a kind of securing).
'spell'+'bind'='SPELLBIND'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spellbind that I've seen before include "entrance" , "grip" , "Enrapture" , "Hold rapt" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.