Crossword Genius

Shanghai almost needs a port manager (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

impresario

'manager' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'shanghai almost needs a port' is the wordplay.
'shanghai' becomes 'impress' ('impress' can be a synonym of 'shanghai').
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'needs' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'port' becomes 'rio' (I've seen this before).
'impress' with its final letter taken off is 'impres'.
'impres'+'a'+'rio'='IMPRESARIO'

(Other definitions for impresario that I've seen before include "Entertainment manager" , "Theatre promoter" , "Theatrical entrepreneur" , "opera manager" , "Sponsor and manager of public entertainments" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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