Ignoring crying, criticises heavily (5,5)

I believe the answer is:

tears apart

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'ignoring crying criticises heavily' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'crying criticises heavily' is the wordplay.
'crying' becomes 'tears' (synonyms).
'criticises heavily' becomes 'apart' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'tears'+'apart'='TEARS APART'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for tears apart that I've seen is " Severely criticises".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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