Crossword Genius

The French back university department writer escaped from (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eluded

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'escaped from' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'the french back university department writer' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'department writer' becomes 'ded' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'le' back-to-front is 'el'.
'el'+'u'+'ded'='ELUDED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eluded that I've seen before include "Escaped by stratagem" , "'Dodged, escaped (6)'" , "Evaded" , "Dodged, avoided" , "Delude, having escaped capture" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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