Crossword Genius

Son went off and felt intense passion (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

smouldered

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'felt intense passion' is the definition.
'smouldered' can be an answer for 'felt' (smouldering is a kind of feeling). I am not certain of the 'intense passion' bit.

'son went off' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'son' could be 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son) and 's' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'mouldered' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for smouldered that I've seen before include "harboured bad emotions" , "slowly burned" , "nearly burned" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.