Crossword Genius

Mark firm losing half of capital (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

colon

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

'mark' is the definition.
(I know that colon is a type of punctuation)

'firm losing half of capital' is the wordplay.
'firm losing' becomes 'co' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'half of capital' becomes 'lon' (half of 'London').
'co'+'lon'='COLON'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for colon that I've seen before include "cut short dependency?" , "unit of foreign currency" , "Panamanian port" , "Punctuate part of the large intestine" , "Part of the intestine - punctuation mark" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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.