Crossword Genius

Sensible pal welcoming Catholic who’s penned Act One (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

practical

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'sensible' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'pal welcoming catholic who's penned act one' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'catholic' could be 'c' (abbreviation as in RC for Roman Catholic) and 'c' is present in the answer.
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'act' is 'atc' which is located in the remaining letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for practical that I've seen before include "type of joker" , "description of Macavity and Bustopher Jones?" , "sort of joke?" , "Concerned with doing rather than with theory" , "Sensible" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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