Crossword Genius

Making smooth transition from day to hours of darkness? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

evening

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

'hours of darkness?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to time as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'making smooth transition from day' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'smooth' could be 'even' (associated in meaning) and 'even' is located in the answer.
'from' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'g' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for evening that I've seen before include "Later part of day" , "Early night" , "'Soup of the - - '" , "Latter part of the day" , "Dusk" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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