Crossword Genius

Daughters in the distance (not far or near?) (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

middle

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'not far or near?' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'daughters in the distance' is the wordplay.
'daughters' becomes 'dd' (a genealogical abbreviation for daughter repeated).
'in the' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'distance' becomes 'mile' (mile is a unit of distance).
'dd' placed within 'mile' is 'MIDDLE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for middle that I've seen before include "Intermediate" , "(A person's) waist" , "A fine person" , "It's equidistant from the extremes" , "Heart" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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