Crossword Genius

What the pupils did when the lights went out (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dilated

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'what the pupils did when' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'lights went out' is the wordplay.
'lights' becomes 'late' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'went' becomes 'did' (doing is a kind of going).
'out' indicates putting letters inside.
'late' placed into 'did' is 'DILATED'.

'the' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dilated that I've seen before include "like pupils in the dark" , "Made more open/wide" , "Enlarged" , "Spoke at length" , "Widened; expanded" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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