Crossword Genius

Explanations of say French art welcomed by lovers once (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exegeses

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'explanations' is the definition.
(exegesis is a kind of explanation)

'say french art welcomed by lovers once' is the wordplay.
'say' becomes 'eg' (both can mean 'for example').
'french art' becomes 'es' ('is' in French - 'art' can mean 'is' eg 'thou art').
'welcomed by' indicates putting letters inside (letters welcomed inside).
'lovers once' becomes 'exes' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'eg'+'es'='eges'
'eges' going inside 'exes' is 'EXEGESES'.

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for exegeses that I've seen is " Textual explanations".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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