Crossword Genius

Veterans return note to serve concerning longshoreman (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stevedore

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'longshoreman' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'veterans return note to serve' is the wordplay.
'veterans return' becomes 'steve' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'note' becomes 're'.
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'serve' becomes 'do' (synonyms).
're' put after 'do' is 'dore'.
'steve'+'dore'='STEVEDORE'

'concerning' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stevedore that I've seen before include "One loads and unloads ships" , "Dock-worker loads and unloads ships" , "Unloader of shipping vessels" , "one working in docks" , "Hold worker" .)

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