Crossword Genius

Rats in a group circling under the entrance to Angel station (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

apostates

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'rats' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'a group circling under the entrance to angel station' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'group' could be 'o' (O is an example) and 'o' is found in the answer.
'station' could be 'sta' (I have seen 'Short station' mean 'sta' so perhaps 'station' could also mean 'sta') and 'sta' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for apostates that I've seen before include "People who have renounced former beliefs" , "Those who renounce a belief" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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