Crossword Genius

High pitched river conflict (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

falsetto

'high pitched' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'river conflict' is the wordplay.
'river' becomes 'fal' (I've seen this before).
'conflict' becomes 'setto' (set-to is a kind of conflict**).
'fal'+'setto'='FALSETTO'

(Other definitions for falsetto that I've seen before include "it sounds high" , "Voice pitch higher than the normal range" , "Unusually pitched" , "Voice one's raised" , "high notes?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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