Crossword Genius

I'm opposed to granny dating, essentially (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

anti

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

'i'm opposed' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'granny dating essentially' is the wordplay.
'granny' becomes 'an' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'essentially' says to take the centre.
The central letters of 'dating' are 'ti'.
'an'+'ti'='ANTI'

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for anti that I've seen before include "on the other side" , "Someone opposed (to a policy?)" , "An opponent - opposed to party policy, etc" , "[NO MAN]" , "Prefix meaning against" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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