Crossword Genius

Relative docked when heading to plane to prepare for takeoff (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

unclasp

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'plane to prepare for takeoff' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'relative docked when heading to' is the wordplay.
'relative' becomes 'uncle' (uncle is a kind of relative).
'docked' means to remove the last letter (to dock can mean to remove the tail of an animal).
'when' becomes 'as' (eg 'when I walked' means 'as I walked').
'heading to' becomes 'p' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'uncle' with its final letter taken off is 'uncl'.
'uncl'+'as'+'p'='UNCLASP'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for unclasp that I've seen before include "let go" , "Loosen grip on" , "Open - release from grip" , "Detach (necklace, belt, etc)" , "Unfasten" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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