Crossword Genius

Queen punches Brussels friend in the same way (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

equally

'in the same way' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'queen punches brussels friend' is the wordplay.
'queen' becomes 'q' (abbreviation used in chess).
'punches' means one lot of letters goes inside another (punch can mean to create a hole in).
'brussels' becomes 'eu' (Brussels is a metonym for the European Union).
'friend' becomes 'ally' ('ally' can be a synonym of 'friend').
'q' inserted into 'eu' is 'equ'.
'equ'+'ally'='EQUALLY'

(Other definitions for equally that I've seen before include "Evenly" , "To the same degree" , "In the same way" , "Fairly" , "just as much" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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