Crossword Genius

Bird in box leading to argument (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sparrow

'bird' is the definition.
(sparrow is a kind of bird)

'box leading to argument' is the wordplay.
'box' becomes 'spar' (sparring is a kind of boxing).
'leading to' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go before or lead others).
'argument' becomes 'row' (to row is to argue).
'spar'+'row'='SPARROW'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for sparrow that I've seen before include "Common town bird" , "Small brownish bird" , "Singing bird" , "fowl, using outdated term" , "(Formerly very) common British bird" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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