Crossword Genius

Greeting a man will love? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hello

'greeting' is the definition.
(hello is a kind of greeting)

'a man will love?' is the wordplay.
'a man' becomes 'he' (**).
'will' becomes 'll'.
'love?' becomes 'o' (In tennis, 'love' means 'zero').
'he'+'ll'+'o'='HELLO'

(Other definitions for hello that I've seen before include "Conversation starter" , "Conventional word of greeting" , "glossy magazine" , "Hi, howdy" , "Musical with Satchmo and Streisand" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app