Playing spades is approved (6)

I believe the answer is:

passed

'is approved' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'playing spades' is the wordplay.
'playing' is an anagram indicator.
'spades' anagrammed gives 'PASSED'.

(Other definitions for passed that I've seen before include "Chose not to bid" , "Spades (anag)" , "Overtook and moved ahead" , "Failed to bid" , "Succeeded" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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