Crossword Genius

Lives with a girl in spring (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

issue

'spring' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'lives with a girl' is the wordplay.
'lives' becomes 'is' ('be' can be a synonym of 'live').
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a girl' becomes 'sue' (girl's name).
'is'+'sue'='ISSUE'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for issue that I've seen before include "Problem < children" , "Spring - children - publication" , "Important question" , "Number (of periodical)" , "that may be taken where there's disagreement?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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