Crossword Genius

Long to swap husband for new recruit (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sign

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

'recruit' is the definition.
(I've seen this in other clues)

'long to swap husband for new' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'new' could be 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament) and 'n' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'sig' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sign that I've seen before include "As the star was for 14 across" , "Authorise with a name" , "Communicate silently" , "Leo, for instance" , "Indicator" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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