Crossword Genius

Hacienda operated with support of church (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ranch

'hacienda' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'operated with support of church' is the wordplay.
'operated' becomes 'ran' ('run' can be a synonym of 'operate').
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'support of church' becomes 'ch' (I've seen this in other clues).
'ran'+'ch'='RANCH'

(Other definitions for ranch that I've seen before include "Stock farm in US, Aus." , "stock holding?" , "Hacienda" , "Run a cattle farm" , "Large farm rearing particular livestock" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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