Spirited perhaps but anonymous author (5-6)

I believe the answer is:

ghost-writer

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'spirited perhaps but anonymous author' is the definition.
'ghost writer' can be an answer for 'author' (I have seen 'Uncredited author ' mean 'ghost writer' so perhaps 'author' could also mean 'ghost writer'). I am unsure of the 'spirited perhaps but anonymous' bit.

'anonymous author' is the wordplay.
'anonymous' becomes 'ghost' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'author' becomes 'writer' (synonyms).
'ghost'+'writer'='GHOST-WRITER'

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I've seen this clue in The Times.

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