Crossword Genius

Superior keen to welcome sailor round five (1,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

a cut above

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

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

'keen to welcome sailor round five' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'sailor' could be 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman) and 'ab' is found in the answer.
'to' is present in the answer.
'five' could be 'v' (Roman numeral) and 'v' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for a cut above that I've seen before include "Noticeably superior to" , "Something superior" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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