Crossword Genius

Former lover referred to getting tickled (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

excited

'tickled' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'former lover referred to getting' is the wordplay.
'former lover' becomes 'ex'.
'referred to' becomes 'cited' ('cite' can be a synonym of 'refer to').
'getting' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ex'+'cited'='EXCITED'

(Other definitions for excited that I've seen before include "Agog" , "Worked up" , "In a stir" , "Animated" , "Jubilant" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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