Occasionally took pallet on ship with no cover (7)

I believe the answer is:

topless

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'occasionally took pallet on ship with no cover' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'occasionally took pallet on ship' is the wordplay.
'occasionally' indicates alternate letters (letters taken at regular intervals or occasions).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'took'+'pallet'='tookpallet'
The alternate letters of 'tookpallet' are 'tople'.
'tople'+'ss'='TOPLESS'

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(Other definitions for topless that I've seen before include "Half-naked" , "With chest totally exposed" , "Without a shirt, vest or bra?" , "As a Page Three girl?" , "Bare-breasted" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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