Crossword Genius

Ducks are in deserted lake (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dearie

'ducks' is the definition.
(both are terms of endearment)

'are in deserted lake' is the wordplay.
'are' becomes 'a' (the 'are' is a metric unit of area).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'deserted' becomes 'd'.
'lake' becomes 'erie' (Lake Erie is one of the Canadian/US 'Great Lakes').
'd'+'erie'='derie'
'a' put inside 'derie' is 'DEARIE'.

(Another definition for dearie that I've seen is " Affectionate address".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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