Departs on horseback, editor taken for ride (5)
I believe the answer is:
duped
'taken for ride' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?
'departs on horseback editor' is the wordplay.
'departs' becomes 'd' (common abbreviation e.g. train timetables).
'on horseback' becomes 'up' (up can mean up on a horse).
'editor' becomes 'ed' (abbreviation).
'd'+'up'+'ed'='DUPED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for duped that I've seen before include "Bamboozled" , "Cheated" , "Deceived" , "Taken for a ride" , "Hoodwinked and misled" .)