Crossword Genius

Conflict involving hotel and female in dock (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

wharf

'dock' is the definition.
(I know that dock can be written as wharf)

'conflict involving hotel and female' is the wordplay.
'conflict' becomes 'war' (war is a kind of conflict).
'involving' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'war' placed around 'h' is 'whar'.
'whar'+'f'='WHARF'

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for wharf that I've seen before include "space available for mooring" , "Loading area for ship" , "Come ashore here" , "moor" , "Waterfront landing stage" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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