Crossword Genius

Old dragon essentially in contemporary music lover (5-4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

opera-goer

'music lover' is the definition.

'old dragon essentially in contemporary' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'essentially' says to take the centre.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'contemporary' becomes 'peer' (both can mean a colleague or equal).
The middle letters of 'dragon' are 'rago'.
'rago' going into 'peer' is 'peragoer'.
'o'+'peragoer'='OPERA-GOER'

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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