Crossword Genius

Dear Bella scrambled egg before five inside (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lovable

'dear' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'bella scrambled egg before five inside' is the wordplay.
'scrambled' indicates an anagram.
'egg' becomes 'o' (I've seen this in other clues).
'before' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'five' becomes 'v' (roman numeral).
'inside' indicates putting letters inside.
'o'+'v'='ov'
'bella' with letters rearranged gives 'lable'.
'lable' placed around 'ov' is 'LOVABLE'.

(Other definitions for lovable that I've seen before include "Attracting affection" , "Adorable" , "Inspiring affection" , "Easy to be fond of like 21 Down" , "Delightful" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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