Pardon sailor's love affair (7)
I believe the answer is:
absolve
'pardon' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sailor's love affair' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'sailor's' could be 'abs' (abbreviation for able seaman) and 'abs' is found within the answer.
an anagram of 'love' is 'olve' which is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for absolve that I've seen before include "Declare to be free from blame" , "Declare (someone) free of guilt" , "Free (a person) from guilt" , "Grant pardon for" , "Clear of blame or quilt" .)