Crossword Genius

Australian picked up call about account involving twelve houses (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

zodiacal

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

'australian' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'picked up call about account involving twelve houses' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'about' could be 'ca' (circa) and 'ca' is found in the answer.
'call' could be 'dial' (both can mean to telephone) and 'dial' is present in the remaining letters.
The remaining letters 'zo' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for zodiacal that I've seen before include "regarding houses" , "To do with 12 astrological signs" , "Of the twelve signs" , "Of an imaginary belt in the heavens" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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