Riposting by elevated dishonesty (8)

I believe the answer is:

replying

'riposting' is the definition.
(a riposte is a witty reply)

'by elevated dishonesty' is the wordplay.
'by' becomes 'per' (I've seen this in another clue).
'elevated' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters go up).
'dishonesty' becomes 'lying' (lying is being dishonest).
'per' back-to-front is 'rep'.
'rep'+'lying'='REPLYING'

(Another definition for replying that I've seen is " Answering".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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