Crossword Genius

Fearfully rigid? (6,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scared stiff

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'fearfully rigid?' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'fearfully rigid?' is the wordplay.
'fearfully' becomes 'scared' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'rigid?' becomes 'stiff' (synonyms).
'scared'+'stiff'='SCARED STIFF'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for scared stiff that I've seen before include "Petrified" , "Frightened to death!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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