Crossword Genius

City's farewell message - refusal to be upset (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ripon

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

'city's' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'farewell message refusal to be upset' is the wordplay.
'farewell message' becomes 'rip' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'refusal' becomes 'no'.
'to be upset' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (I've seen 'being upset' mean this).
'no' back-to-front is 'on'.
'rip'+'on'='RIPON'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ripon that I've seen before include "Town in N. Yorkshire" , "N. Yorks market town" , "northern town" , "North Yorkshire cathedral city" , "Yorks cathedral" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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