Crossword Genius

Marxist captures state capital (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

maputo

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

'capital' is the definition.
(capital of Mozambique)

'marxist captures state' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'state' could be 'ma' (abbreviation for Massachusetts) and 'ma' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for maputo that I've seen before include "African capital" , "Capital of Mozambique" , "African city" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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