War goddess tells how to spell Alcoholics Anonymous (6)

I believe the answer is:

athena

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'war' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

I cannot understand how the remainder of the clue works.

(Other definitions for athena that I've seen before include "Greek goddess of a capital city" , "wise but fierce goddess" , "Greek goddess of wisdom etc." , "One-time goddess" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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