Crossword Genius

Cost of woman's silver piercing (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

damage

'cost' is the definition.
(damage is a kind of cost)

'woman's silver piercing' is the wordplay.
'woman' becomes 'dame' (dame can mean a woman).
'silver' becomes 'Ag' (Ag is the chemical symbol for silver).
'piercing' is an insertion indicator (some letters pierce a hole in a word).
'dame' placed around 'ag' is 'DAMAGE'.

'of' is the link.

(Other definitions for damage that I've seen before include "Detrimental effect" , "Injure, spoil" , "'Deface, impair (6)'" , "Harm, loss" , "Deface, harm" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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