Crossword Genius

Order male partner for the night (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mandate

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'order' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'male partner for the night' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'man' (man is a kind of male).
'partner' becomes 'e'.
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'the night' becomes 'dat' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'e' put after 'dat' is 'date'.
'man'+'date'='MANDATE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mandate that I've seen before include "directive" , "Official order or commission to do something" , "Legal authorisation" , "Official command; commission" , "Authority to do something" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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