Crossword Genius

News about youth ultimately designed to cheer (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gladden

'cheer' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'news about youth ultimately designed' is the wordplay.
'news' becomes 'gen'.
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'youth' becomes 'lad' (I've seen this before**).
'ultimately' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letter of 'designed' is 'd'.
'lad'+'d'='ladd'
'gen' placed around 'ladd' is 'GLADDEN'.

'to' is the link.

(Other definitions for gladden that I've seen before include "Delight" , "Make joyful" , "Hearten" , "Give pleasure to" , "Lift (the heart)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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