Crossword Genius

Original degenerate, playboy buccaneer (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

drake

'buccaneer' is the definition.
(Sir Francis Drake)

'original degenerate playboy' is the wordplay.
'original' indicates taking the first letters.
'playboy' becomes 'rake' (old-fashioned term for a womanising man).
The first letter of 'degenerate' is 'd'.
'd'+'rake'='DRAKE'

(Other definitions for drake that I've seen before include "Hoe user" , "Male water-bird" , "First English captain to sail round the world" , "Elizabethan sailor" , "Plymouth bowler" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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