Crossword Genius

Rocky ran out of alternatives so floats on air (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

levitates

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'floats on air' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with motion as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'rocky ran out of alternatives' is the wordplay.
'rocky' is an anagram indicator (letters rocked or thrown around).
'out of' is a deletion indicator ('out of' can mean no longer having).
'alternatives' with 'ran' taken away is 'lteatives'.
'lteatives' with letters rearranged gives 'LEVITATES'.

'so' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for levitates that I've seen before include "magic skills" , "Rises in defiance of gravity" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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