Crossword Genius

House holding an aromatic plant (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

vanilla

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'aromatic plant' is the definition.
'vanilla' can be an answer for 'plant' (vanilla is a kind of plant). I am not sure about the 'aromatic' bit.

'house holding an' is the wordplay.
'house' becomes 'villa' (villa is a kind of house).
'holding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'villa' going around 'an' is 'VANILLA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for vanilla that I've seen before include "Without any extras - all vain (anag)" , "Subtle flavour, of ice-cream say" , "Plain" , "Flavouring from orchid pods" , "devoid of special features" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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