Crossword Genius

Regret turning back on footwear vandal (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

saboteur

'vandal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'regret turning back on footwear' is the wordplay.
'regret' becomes 'rue' ('rue' can be a synonym of 'regret').
'turning back' says the letters should be written backwards.
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'footwear' becomes 'sabot' (sabot is a kind of footwear**).
'rue' reversed gives 'eur'.
'eur' put after 'sabot' is 'SABOTEUR'.

(Other definitions for saboteur that I've seen before include "Vandal" , "One causes damage for political reasons" , "One who causes deliberate damage to plants or machinery" , "Abuser to become a kind of destroyer" , "Rebel" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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