Crossword Genius

"Fabulous bird grabs bloke" - English love story (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

romance

'love story' is the definition.
('romance' can be a synonym of 'love story')

'fabulous bird grabs bloke english' is the wordplay.
'fabulous bird' becomes 'roc' (I've seen this before).
'grabs' is an insertion indicator.
'bloke' becomes 'man' (I've seen this in other clues).
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'roc' enclosing 'man' is 'romanc'.
'romanc'+'e'='ROMANCE'

(Other definitions for romance that I've seen before include "Novel - affair" , "Lie" , "Love affair; medieval tale" , "Group of languages" , "Various languages such as French" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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