Crossword Genius

Playwright quietly leaving female before conflict (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

interfere

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'conflict' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'playwright quietly leaving female before' is the wordplay.
'playwright' becomes 'pinter' (Harold Pinter).
'quietly' becomes 'p' (p for piano and quiet).
'leaving' suggests deleting specific letters.
'female before' becomes 'fere' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'pinter' with 'p' taken out is 'inter'.
'inter'+'fere'='INTERFERE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for interfere that I've seen before include "Intruder does" , "Attempt" , "Meddle, intrude" , "Come between, intervene" , "Obstruct, pry" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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