Crossword Genius

Friend invested in gold rings, originally a dabbler (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

amateur

'a dabbler' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'friend invested in gold rings originally' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'mate' (mate is a kind of friend**).
'invested in' is an insertion indicator.
'gold' becomes 'au' ('Au' can be a synonym of 'gold').
'originally' indicates taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'rings' is 'r'.
'mate' placed within 'au' is 'amateu'.
'amateu'+'r'='AMATEUR'

(Other definitions for amateur that I've seen before include "Unpaid (sport)" , "I'm no expert!" , "enthusiast" , "Dabbler" , "Lover" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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