Crossword Genius

Lady in crowd surrounding East European (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

peeress

'lady' is the definition.
('peeress' can be a synonym of 'lady')

'crowd surrounding east european' is the wordplay.
'crowd' becomes 'press' (press is a kind of crowd**).
'surrounding' is an insertion indicator.
'east' becomes 'e' ('E' can be a synonym of 'east').
'european' becomes 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'e'+'e'='ee'
'press' placed around 'ee' is 'PEERESS'.

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for peeress that I've seen before include "She is married to a duke, earl etc" , "Female House of Lords member" , "Female noble" , "Woman from other place" , "Lady" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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