Crossword Genius

Debate of rising spirit (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

forum

'debate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'of rising spirit' is the wordplay.
'rising' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (going up in a down clue).
'spirit' becomes 'rum' (alcoholic spirit).
'of' written backwards gives 'fo'.
'fo'+'rum'='FORUM'

(Other definitions for forum that I've seen before include "Ancient Roman marketplace or place for public discussions" , "historically square" , "Roman meeting place" , "discussion group" , "Meeting for debate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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