Crossword Genius

Costly to the very end, darling (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deary

'darling' is the definition.
('deary' can be a synonym of 'darling')

'costly to the very end' is the wordplay.
'costly' becomes 'dear' ('dear' can be a synonym of 'costly').
'to' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'end' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'very' is 'y'.
'dear'+'y'='DEARY'

(Other definitions for deary that I've seen before include "Ready (anag) -- pet" , "Love" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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