Crossword Genius

She makes a good speech acting in gold braid (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

oratress

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'she makes a good speech' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'acting in gold braid' is the wordplay.
'acting' becomes 'a' (abbreviation, eg in job titles).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'gold' becomes 'or' ('or' is the heraldic name for gold).
'braid' becomes 'tress' (synonyms).
'or'+'tress'='ortress'
'a' going inside 'ortress' is 'ORATRESS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for oratress that I've seen before include "Someone needing a platform" , "public speaker" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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