Crossword Genius

Duel as result of rant or challenges like this, with second intervening (5,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cross swords

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'duel as result of rant or challenges' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'this with second intervening' is the wordplay.
'this' becomes 'crossword' (the crossword currently being solved is an example).
'with' is an insertion indicator.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'intervening' becomes 's' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'crossword' going around 's' is 'crosssword'.
'crosssword'+'s'='CROSS SWORDS'

'like' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cross swords that I've seen before include "Have a disagreement" , "fight" , "Get into a dispute" , "quarrel" , "start the duelling" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.