Crossword Genius

Family gathering around Lima’s oven (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

kiln

'oven' is the definition.
(I know that kiln is a type of oven)

'family gathering around lima's' is the wordplay.
'family' becomes 'kin' (synonyms).
'gathering around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'lima' becomes 'L' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'kin' going around 'l' is 'KILN'.

(Other definitions for kiln that I've seen before include "Oven for firing ceramics etc" , "Potter's furnace" , "Oven for hardening and drying" , "Oven for burning lime" , "Large commercial oven" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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