Crossword Genius

Letter that is spelt badly (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

epistle

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

'letter' is the definition.
(I know that letter can be written as epistle)

'is spelt badly' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'is' is within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'that' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for epistle that I've seen before include "screed" , "extract of the Bible" , "A letter - as from Apostle?" , "(E.g. Paul's) letter" , "may be written off" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail, The Irish News and The Irish Independent.
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