Crossword Genius

Officer from Europe wanting base for privates (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

genitalia

'privates' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'officer from europe wanting base' is the wordplay.
'officer' becomes 'gen' (abbreviation for general).
'from europe' becomes 'Italian ' (Italy is in Europe).
'wanting base' means to remove the last letter (the base of the word is removed).
'italian' with its last letter taken away is 'italia'.
'gen'+'italia'='GENITALIA'

'for' is the link.

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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