Takes off when a bishop supports ditching Europe (8)
I believe the answer is:
absconds
'takes off' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with motion as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'when a bishop supports ditching europe' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'when' could be 'on' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'on' is found in the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
'bishop' could be 'b' (chess abbreviation) and 'b' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for absconds that I've seen before include "Bolts, runs away" , "Flees to escape from a legal process" , "Decamps" , "Does a bunk" , "Flees, runs away" .)