Crossword Genius

Member of clergy nearly late to get ice-cream with sprinkles on vacation (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

deaconess

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

'member of clergy' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'nearly late to get ice-cream with sprinkles on vacation' is the wordplay.
'nearly late' becomes 'dea' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to get' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'ice-cream' becomes 'cone' (I've seen this in other clues).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'on vacation' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (after the inside letters have vacated the word).
'sprinkles' with its centre removed is 'ss'.
'dea'+'cone'+'ss'='DEACONESS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for deaconess that I've seen before include "Female lay official of the church" , "Minister" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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