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"surrogate" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often deputy (6 letters).
Definitions
providing or receiving nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal ties
Word origin
From Latin surrogātus, perfect passive participle of surrogō (“ask”); a variant of subrogō, from sub (“under”) + rogō (“ask”).
Used in a sentence
“A mixture of horseradish and mustard often serves as a surrogate for wasabi.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Substitute”9 letters
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