Crossword Genius

Female always quiet with desire shows great excitement (5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fever pitch

'great excitement' is the definition.

'female always quiet with desire' is the wordplay.
'female' becomes 'f' (abbreviation).
'always' becomes 'ever' ('ever' can be a synonym of 'always').
'quiet' becomes 'p' (music symbol for 'piano').
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'desire' becomes 'itch' (itch is a kind of desire**).
'f'+'ever'+'p'+'itch'='FEVER PITCH'

'shows' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for fever pitch that I've seen before include "state of great excitement" , "Tremendous excitement" , "State of high excitement" , "State of intense excitement - fetch viper (anag)" , "in state of great agitation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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