Crossword Genius

Long to have caught Vera out (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crave

'long' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'caught vera out' is the wordplay.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation**).
'out' is an anagram indicator (out can mean wrong or inaccurate).
'vera' anagrammed gives 'rave'.
'c'+'rave'='CRAVE'

'to have' is the link.

(Other definitions for crave that I've seen before include "Hunger for" , "Have strong urge" , "Lust after" , "Desperately desire" , "need, desperately" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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