Crossword Genius

Paternal figure given a bit of publicity (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dad

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'paternal figure' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'a bit of publicity' is the wordplay.
'a bit of' becomes 'd' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'publicity' becomes 'ad' (short for advert).
'd'+'ad'='DAD'

'given' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dad that I've seen before include "Relation" , "Mum's mate" , "Father, in short" , "Old man" , "Papa" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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