Crossword Genius

Vespucci renegotiated with contrary captive General? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

generic

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'captive general?' is the definition.
'generic' can be an answer for 'general?' (thesaurus). I am not sure about the 'captive' bit.

'vespucci renegotiated with contrary' is the wordplay.
'with' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'contrary' says the letters should be written backwards.
'cireneg' can be found hidden inside 'vespucci renegotiated'.
'cireneg' back-to-front is 'GENERIC'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for generic that I've seen before include "of a particular type" , "not proprietary" , "of no specific type" , "Non-specific" , "Applicable to any member of a class" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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