Crossword Genius

Sailor hugging copper after copper is in hospital for a spell (5-5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hocus-pocus

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

'a spell' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'sailor hugging copper after copper is in hospital' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'sailor' could be 'po' (petty officer) and 'po' is present in the answer.
'copper' could be 'cu' (chemical symbol) and 'cu' is located in the answer.
'hospital' could be 'h' (abbreviation for hospital on maps) and 'h' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hocus-pocus that I've seen before include "Conjuror's incantation" , "Conjurer's incantation" , "Mumbo-jumbo" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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