Crossword Genius

Opportunist placing sign across hotel (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chancer

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'opportunist' is the definition.
(someone taking chances)

'placing sign across hotel' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'hotel' could be 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.) and 'h' is found within the answer.
'sign' could be 'can' (can is a kind of sign) and 'can' is present in the remaining letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chancer that I've seen before include "Unscrupulous sort" , "opportunistic sort" , "One taking risks" , "Unscrupulous opportunist" , "Informally, one who tries his luck" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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