Crossword Genius

Spoke from wheel assessed (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

orated

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'spoke' is the definition.
(orating is a kind of speaking)

'from wheel assessed' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'from' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is located in the answer.
'assessed' could be 'rated' (rating is a kind of assessing) and 'rated' is found within the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for orated that I've seen before include "made a speech" , "Spoke at length" , "lectured" , "Made speeches" , "Talked pompously" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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