Crossword Genius

Lovers' tiff ending, somewhat tense (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stiffen

'tense' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'lovers' tiff ending somewhat' is the wordplay.
'somewhat' indicates a hidden word.
'STIFFEN' is hidden within 'lovers tiff ending'.

(Other definitions for stiffen that I've seen before include "Steel" , "Grow harder" , "more severe" , "Make unbending" , "Reinforce" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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