Seal accepted a lot of money for getting close and personal (9)

I believe the answer is:

clinching

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'getting close and personal' is the definition.

'seal accepted a lot of money for' is the wordplay.
'seal' becomes 'clinch' (I've seen this before).
'accepted' becomes 'in' (I've seen this in other clues).
'a lot of money for' becomes 'g' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'clinch'+'in'+'g'='CLINCHING'

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(Another definition for clinching that I've seen is " decisive".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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