Crossword Genius

Craft in stone Madonna holding child (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

masonry

'craft in stone' is the definition.
(craft working with stone)

'madonna holding child' is the wordplay.
'madonna' becomes 'Mary' (synonyms).
'holding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'child' becomes 'son' (son is a kind of child).
'mary' going around 'son' is 'MASONRY'.

(Other definitions for masonry that I've seen before include "Stonework" , "Skill in construction" , "brickwork" , "Building work in stone" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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