Sadly trails Vera with no-one passing through? (9)

I believe the answer is:

traversal

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'sadly trails vera with no-one passing through?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'sadly trails vera with no-one' is the wordplay.
'sadly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'with no' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'one' becomes 'I' (Roman numeral).
'trails'+'vera'='trailsvera'
'trailsvera' with 'i' taken out is 'tralsvera'.
'tralsvera' is an anagram of 'TRAVERSAL'.

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(Other definitions for traversal that I've seen before include "A crossing (of something)" , "Coming across" , "A journey across" , "Act of crossing" , "Action of crossing" .)

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

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