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Saying few words, the French Commander-in-Chief holding on (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

laconic

'saying few words' is the definition.
(laconic means not saying much)

'the french commander-in-chief holding on' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'la' ('the' in French).
'commander-in-chief' becomes 'CIC' (abbreviation).
'holding' indicates putting letters inside.
'cic' enclosing 'on' is 'conic'.
'la'+'conic'='LACONIC'

(Other definitions for laconic that I've seen before include "Terse, brief of speech" , "Succinct in speech" , "Tersely spoken" , "'Curt, terse (7)'" , "In short" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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