Crossword Genius

Couturier Pierre meeting a large cleric (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cardinal

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

'couturier pierre meeting a large' is the wordplay.
'couturier pierre' becomes 'cardin' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'meeting' says to put letters next to each other.
'large' becomes 'L' (eg in clothes sizes).
'cardin'+'a'+'l'='CARDINAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cardinal that I've seen before include "Vivid red of a senior bishop?" , "High-ranking official of the Roman Catholic church" , "Possibly one" , "cleric" , "One, perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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