Crossword Genius

Thought to bring article forward for assistant (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aide

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

'for assistant' is the definition.
(aide is a kind of assistant)

'thought to bring article forward' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'article' could be 'a' (the indefinite article in English) and 'a' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ide' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aide that I've seen before include "Officer who acts as military assistant" , "a help" , "Assistant to a more senior person" , "Right-hand man/woman" , "one helping" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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