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 quite 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 understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'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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