Crossword Genius

Snake in dock caught leaving submarine (1-4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

u-boat

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

'snake in dock caught leaving' is the wordplay.
'snake' becomes 'boa' (boa is a kind of snake).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'dock' becomes 'cut'.
'caught' becomes 'c' (cricket abbreviation).
'leaving' is a deletion indicator.
'cut' with 'c' removed is 'ut'.
'boa' placed within 'ut' is 'U-BOAT'.

(Other definitions for u-boat that I've seen before include "German submarine of WW2" , "Submersible warship armed with torpedoes" , "German wartime submarine" , "German World War One or World War Two submarine" , "Sea vessel" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
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