Crossword Genius

Star finally takes chance to tour in the East (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

asterisk

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

'star finally' is the definition.
'asterisk' can be an answer for 'star' (synonyms). I'm not certain of the 'finally' bit.

'chance to tour in the east' is the wordplay.
'chance' becomes 'risk' (synonyms).
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'tour in' becomes 'ast' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'the east' becomes 'E' (synonyms).
'ast'+'e'='aste'
'risk' after 'aste' is 'ASTERISK'.

'takes' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for asterisk that I've seen before include "Printed star" , "Text-marking symbol" , "Textual reference symbol" , "Character drawing attention to footnote" , "star-shaped figure" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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