Crossword Genius

Aren't ropes aboard ship very good quality? (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

saintliness

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

'good quality?' is the definition.
'saintliness' can be an answer for 'quality?' (saintliness is a kind of quality). I'm not certain of the 'good' bit.

'aren't ropes aboard ship' is the wordplay.
'aren't' becomes 'ain't' (non-standard version of 'isn't' or 'aren't').
'ropes' becomes 'lines' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'aboard' is an insertion indicator.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'aint'+'lines'='aintlines'
'aintlines' placed inside 'ss' is 'SAINTLINESS'.

'very' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for saintliness that I've seen before include "being very good" , "Least in sins (anag)" .)

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