Crossword Genius

Urgently request ancient stories of devils? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

implore

'urgently request' is the definition.
(to implore is to beg desperately or urgently)

'ancient stories of devils?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'stories' could be 'lore' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'lore' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'imp' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

(Other definitions for implore that I've seen before include "Beg earnestly, plead" , "Beg earnestly, entreat" , "Beg desperately" , "Ask earnestly" , "More lip (anag)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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