Crossword Genius

Let Liberal and Moderate meet (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lease

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

'let' is the definition.
(as in to lease or let a building)

'liberal and moderate meet' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'liberal' could be 'l' (abbreviation) and 'l' is located in the answer.
'moderate' could be 'ease' (moderate can mean to relax or ease) and 'ease' is found in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lease that I've seen before include "Contract for, say, use of building" , "Rent (a property)" , "Term of a rental contract" , "Rent -- easel (anag)" , "Let for money" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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