Come across an equal in audition (6)

I believe the answer is:

appear

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'come' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'across an equal in audition' is the wordplay.
'across' becomes 'ap' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'an equal' becomes 'peer' ('peer' can be a synonym of 'equal').
'in audition' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue (audition can mean hearing).
'peer' sounds like 'pear'.
'ap'+'pear'='APPEAR'

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(Other definitions for appear that I've seen before include "Show up like ghost" , "Develop" , "Arrive" , "hove in sight" , "be published" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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