Superiority of former lover in prison, fenced inside? (10)

I believe the answer is:

excellence

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'superiority' is the definition.
(excellence is a kind of superiority)

'former lover in prison fenced inside?' is the wordplay.
'former lover' becomes 'ex' (an ex-lover).
'in prison' becomes 'cell' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'inside?' says to take the centre (I've seen 'inside' mean this).
The middle letters of 'fenced' are 'ence'.
'ex'+'cell'+'ence'='EXCELLENCE'

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for excellence that I've seen before include "greatness" , "Great merit" , "Superiority" , "Exceptional quality" , "Outstanding quality" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.

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