Crossword Genius

Professor entertaining the old dean (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

doyen

'dean' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'professor entertaining the old' is the wordplay.
'professor' becomes 'don' (term for a university professor).
'entertaining' indicates putting letters inside.
'the old' becomes 'ye' (resembles a historical spelling of 'the').
'don' placed around 'ye' is 'DOYEN'.

(Other definitions for doyen that I've seen before include "Senior practitioner" , "Senior member of a professional group" , "Grand old man" , "Most valued prof, eg" , "Senior member of a profession or academy" .)

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