Crossword Genius

Calming report of woman with phobia (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

soothing

'calming' is the definition.
('soothing' can be a synonym of 'calming')

'report of woman with phobia' is the wordplay.
'report of woman' becomes 'soo' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'phobia' becomes 'thing' (having 'a thing about' something is fearing it).
'soo'+'thing'='SOOTHING'

(Other definitions for soothing that I've seen before include "Balmy" , "restful" , "emollient" , "calming effect" , "peaceful" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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