Crossword Genius

Notice journalist has cooked pies (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

espied

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'notice journalist has cooked pies' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'journalist has cooked pies' is the wordplay.
'journalist' becomes 'ed' (short for editor).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'cooked' indicates anagramming the letters (letters cooked into a new form).
'pies' anagrammed gives 'espi'.
'ed' after 'espi' is 'ESPIED'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for espied that I've seen before include "Caught sight of (poetic)" , "Spotted; saw" , "observed in literature" , "Caught sight of (archaic)" , "Watched" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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