Champions in five shows (10)

I believe the answer is:

vindicates

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'champions in five shows' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with communicating as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'five shows' is the wordplay.
'five' becomes 'V' (Roman numeral).
'shows' becomes 'indicates' ('indicate' can be a synonym of 'show').
'v'+'indicates'='VINDICATES'

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I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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