Spirit is shown by the Guardian boss, it's alleged (8)
I believe the answer is:
rumoured
'alleged' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'spirit is shown by the guardian boss it's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'spirit' could be 'rum' (I've seen this before) and 'rum' is located in the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rumoured that I've seen before include "Reported" , "Circulating, but unverified" , "(Of gossip) in circulation" , "Noised abroad" , "it's said (in a gossipy way)" .)