Crossword Genius

Someone favoured hiding deserter in abandoned parsonage (7,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

persona grata

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'someone favoured hiding' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'deserter in abandoned parsonage' is the wordplay.
'deserter' becomes 'rat' (both can mean a traitor).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'abandoned' indicates an anagram (the original order is abandoned).
'parsonage' is an anagram of 'personaga'.
'rat' inserted within 'personaga' is 'PERSONA GRATA'.

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(Another definition for persona grata that I've seen is " One who is diplomatically acceptable".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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