Crossword Genius

Old woman scratching backside had thrill (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

exhilarate

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

'thrill' is the definition.
(I know that thrill can be written as exhilarate)

'old woman scratching backside' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'old' could be 'ex' (prefix meaning former or onetime) and 'ex' is found within the answer.
'woman' could be 'lara' and 'lara' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hite' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'had' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for exhilarate that I've seen before include "Thrill" , "Enliven" , "Cheer" , "Make very happy or very animated" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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