Crossword Genius

Mark takes an officer ahead (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

colon

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

'an officer ahead' is the wordplay.
'an officer' becomes 'col' (short for colonel).
'ahead' becomes 'on' (synonyms).
'col'+'on'='COLON'

'takes' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for colon that I've seen before include "City at the Caribbean entrance to the Panama Canal" , "Costa Rican currency" , "cut short dependency?" , "Part of the intestine - punctuation mark" , "Panamanian port" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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