Crossword Genius

Labyrinth lieutenant, old, vanquished at first? Congratulations! (5,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mazel tov

'congratulations' is the definition.

'labyrinth lieutenant old vanquished at first?' is the wordplay.
'labyrinth' becomes 'maze' (synonyms).
'lieutenant' becomes 'lt' (abbreviation for lieutenant).
'at first?' says to take the initial letters (I've seen 'at first' mean this).
The initial letters of 'old vanquished' is 'ov'.
'maze'+'lt'+'ov'='MAZEL TOV'

(Another definition for mazel tov that I've seen is " best wishes".)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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