Crossword Genius

Officer's sound heart (7)

Ross

I think it could be either:

Which length description are you looking for?:

6

7

kernel

'heart' is the definition.
('kernel' can be a synonym of 'heart')

'officer's sound' is the wordplay.
'officer' becomes 'colonel' (colonel is a kind of officer).
'sound' shows a homophone (sound like).
'colonel' sounds like 'KERNEL'.

(Other definitions for kernel that I've seen before include "Heart and soul" , "Inner part of nut" , "Edible or central part of nut" , "Inner seed of nut" , "soft heart" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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