Crossword Genius

See eager sailor painting yacht first of all (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

espy

'see' is the definition.
(to espy is to catch sight of it)

'eager sailor painting yacht first of all' is the wordplay.
'first of all' says to take the initial letters.
The first letters of 'eager sailor painting yacht' is 'ESPY'.

(Other definitions for espy that I've seen before include "Behold" , "Discern" , "Spot at a distance" , "Catch a glimpse of" , "See" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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