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What the captain did to a row of soldiers was annoying (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rankled

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'annoying' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, past participle verbs and adjectives sometimes mean the same thing.

'what the captain did to a row of soldiers' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'did' could be 'led' (leading is a kind of doing) and 'led' is located in the answer.
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'was' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rankled that I've seen before include "Embittered" , "Caused lasting resentment and bitterness" , "Caused ongoing annoyance" , "caused constant annoyance" , "Festered" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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