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Victory song transformed into alternative (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

variation

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'alternative' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how they can define each other.

'victory song transformed into' is the wordplay.
'victory' becomes 'v'.
'song' becomes 'aria' (aria is a kind of song).
'transformed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'into' is an anagram of 'tion'.
'v'+'aria'+'tion'='VARIATION'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for variation that I've seen before include "Departure from the norm" , "Discrepancy" , "Change, difference" , "Slight difference" , "Slight change" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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