Crossword Genius

Feeling excited - new couple moving in (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sentient

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'feeling' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'excited new couple moving in' is the wordplay.
'excited' becomes 'sent' (send can mean to excite or stimulate).
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'couple moving' becomes 'tie' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'n'+'tie'='ntie'
'sent' placed around 'ntie' is 'SENTIENT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sentient that I've seen before include "Having feelings" , "having power of perception" , "Feeling, conscious" , "Able to perceive/feel" , "Able to perceive or feel things" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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