Crossword Genius

One dressed in purple finding old javelin (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pilum

'old javelin' is the definition.
(Roman javelin)

'one dressed in purple' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'dressed in' indicates putting letters inside.
'purple' becomes 'plum' (I have seen 'Dark purple' mean 'plum' so perhaps 'purple' could also mean 'plum').
'i' placed into 'plum' is 'PILUM'.

'finding' is the link.

(Another definition for pilum that I've seen is " flying missile".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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