### Clue: Taken over by American news boss, holy publication did (4,2)
### Answer: USED TO 
 ### Explanation: Definition: did
  **Reversal of**(taken over, in a down clue) OT(abbrev. for $$O$$ld $$T$$estament,holy publication in the Bible) **placed after**(by) US(American) + ED(short for editor,newspaper boss). 
Answer: As in "I used to/did smoke").  However, I feel I'm missing something, and I could be wrong in both definition and wordplay, since the reversal indicator is far removed from its object.