Crossword Genius

Exciting little streams at Southend (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thrills

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'exciting little streams at southend' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'streams at southend' is the wordplay.
'streams' becomes 'rills' (rill is a kind of stream).
'at' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'southend' becomes 'th' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'rills' put after 'th' is 'THRILLS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thrills that I've seen before include "Waves of excited feelings" , "Excites" , "Hair-raising experiences" , "Delights" , "Excitement" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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