Crossword Genius

Church supporting Navy woman in difficult separation (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

wrench

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

'difficult separation' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to natural events as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'church supporting navy woman' is the wordplay.
'church' becomes 'ch' (abbreviation on maps etc).
'supporting' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'navy woman' becomes 'wren' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ch' after 'wren' is 'WRENCH'.

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for wrench that I've seen before include "Sort of spanner - twist it" , "prize" , "Yank" , "Type of spanner" , "Painful parting" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.