Crossword Genius

Outspoken gents, say, interrupted by commander contrarily (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

vocal

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'outspoken' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'gents say interrupted by commander contrarily' is the wordplay.
'gents say' becomes 'lav' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'interrupted by' is an insertion indicator.
'commander' becomes 'CO' (commanding officer).
'contrarily' is a reversal indicator (letters in the opposite or contrary direction).
'lav' going around 'co' is 'lacov'.
'lacov' backwards is 'VOCAL'.

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(Other definitions for vocal that I've seen before include "Forthright in argument" , "Freely expressing opinions" , "Audible in protest" , "Given to speech, often in protest" , "With lots to say" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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