Crossword Genius

Impact of popular complaint in French church (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

influence

'impact' is the definition.
(influencing is a kind of impacting)

'popular complaint in french church' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'complaint' becomes 'flu' (flu is a kind of health problem).
'in french' becomes 'en' ('in' in French).
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'in'+'flu'+'en'+'ce'='INFLUENCE'

'of' is the link.

(Other definitions for influence that I've seen before include "Weight" , "The capacity to affect others" , "The prestige and power to affect others" , "Effect" , "Clue in fen (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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