Crossword Genius

Popular whim of early childhood? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

infancy

'early childhood?' is the definition.
('infancy' can be a synonym of 'early childhood')

'popular whim' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in'.
'whim' becomes 'fancy' (I've seen this before).
'in'+'fancy'='INFANCY'

'of' is the link.

(Other definitions for infancy that I've seen before include "Babyhood" , "Early years" , "State of early childhood" , "youth" , "Early stage of development" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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