Crossword Genius

A place to be often in spirit (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

haunt

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

'spirit' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'a place to be often' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hunt' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for haunt that I've seen before include "A favourite place" , "Frequent - resort" , "place regularly visited" , "favourite spot" , "Keep appearing" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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