Crossword Genius

Thus conductor accepts blame (5,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

faces the music

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

'conductor accepts blame' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'thus' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'thus' could be 'sic' (synonyms) and 'sic' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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