Crossword Genius

Saw the tot staggering and ran to grab it (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spotted

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'saw' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'tot staggering and ran to grab it' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'tot' is 'ott' which is present in the answer.
'ran' could be 'sped' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'sped' is present in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spotted that I've seen before include "Dappled - saw" , "Saw; speckled" , "As Dick may be" , "Observed" , "Espied" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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