Crossword Genius

Quality shown by pupils in letter (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

classiness

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'quality' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'by pupils in letter' is the wordplay.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'pupils' becomes 'class' (I've seen this before).
'letter' becomes 'ess' (the letter S).
'class' next to 'in' is 'classin'.
'classin'+'ess'='CLASSINESS'

'shown' is the link.

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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