Crossword Genius

County go astray heading west, delayed for match (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

correlate

'for match' is the definition.
(correlating is a kind of matching)

'county go astray heading west delayed' is the wordplay.
'county' becomes 'co'.
'go astray' becomes 'err' (to err is to make an error or go the wrong way).
'heading west' says the letters should be written backwards.
'delayed' becomes 'late' (running late).
'err' in reverse letter order is 'rre'.
'co'+'rre'+'late'='CORRELATE'

(Other definitions for correlate that I've seen before include "Be complementary" , "(Of two things) tally" , "Establish a mutual relationship between (things)" , "To be linked to each other; trace role (anag.)" , "Bring (things) into correspondence" .)

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