Hardy woman following house guests finally? (7)

I believe the answer is:

hostess

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'hardy woman following house guests finally?' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'woman following house guests finally?' is the wordplay.
'woman' becomes 'tess' ().
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'house' becomes 'ho' (abbreviation for house).
'finally?' indicates one should take the final letters (I've seen 'finally' mean this).
The final letter of 'guests' is 's'.
'ho'+'s'='hos'
'tess' after 'hos' is 'HOSTESS'.

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(Other definitions for hostess that I've seen before include "Female party-giver" , "Lady with guests" , "Woman giving a party" , "Woman employed by a nightclub" , "Plane stewardess" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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