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Said the French inside and went on the water (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sailed

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'went on the water' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'said the french inside' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'inside' indicates putting letters inside.
'said' placed around 'le' is 'SAILED'.

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sailed that I've seen before include "Travelled by boat" , "Travelled by wind over water" .)

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