Lethal serpents a reclusive saint chances heading off (9)

I believe the answer is:

basilisks

'lethal serpents' is the definition.

'a reclusive saint chances heading off' is the wordplay.
'a reclusive saint' becomes 'basil'.
'chances' becomes 'risks' ('risk' can be a synonym of 'chance').
'heading off' means to remove the first letter.
'risks' with its first letter taken off is 'isks'.
'basil'+'isks'='BASILISKS'

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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