Crossword Genius

Humbles me, being surrounded by clerics (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

demeans

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'humbles' is the definition.
(demeaning is a kind of humbling)

'me being surrounded by clerics' is the wordplay.
'being surrounded by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'clerics' becomes 'deans' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'me' inserted into 'deans' is 'DEMEANS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for demeans that I've seen before include "is shaming" , "damages reputation" , "Humbles" , "Degrades, lowers" , "Degrades, puts down" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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