Crossword Genius

Eastern scenes, weird in basic quality (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

essence

'basic quality' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'eastern scenes weird in' is the wordplay.
'eastern' becomes 'e'.
'weird' indicates anagramming the letters.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'scenes' with letters rearranged gives 'essnce'.
'e' placed into 'essnce' is 'ESSENCE'.

(Other definitions for essence that I've seen before include "Soul" , "Concentrated liquid flavouring" , "Key" , "A thing's intrinsic nature" , "Vital part of something" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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