Crossword Genius

Beloved embracing king with the lights out (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

darkling

'with the lights out' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'beloved embracing king' is the wordplay.
'beloved' becomes 'darling' ('darling' can be a synonym of 'beloved').
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'king' becomes 'k'.
'darling' enclosing 'k' is 'DARKLING'.

(Other definitions for darkling that I've seen before include "night of poetry" , "with the lights out" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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