Crossword Genius

Shower reportedly govern (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

reign

'govern' is the definition.
(reigning is a kind of governing)

'shower reportedly' is the wordplay.
'shower' becomes 'rain' ('rain shower' can be a synonym of 'shower').
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'rain' is a homophone of 'REIGN'.

(Other definitions for reign that I've seen before include "Sovereignty" , "Period during which someone is dominant" , "Period of monarch" , "Rule of monarch" , "Spell in office" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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