Crossword Genius

Tense, if sent out to gather flowers originally (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stiffen

'tense' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'if sent out to gather flowers originally' is the wordplay.
'out' is an anagram indicator (out can mean wrong or inaccurate).
'to gather' indicates putting letters inside.
'originally' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'flowers' is 'f'.
'if'+'sent'='ifsent'
'ifsent' with letters rearranged gives 'stifen'.
'stifen' going around 'f' is 'STIFFEN'.

(Other definitions for stiffen that I've seen before include "more severe" , "Steel" , "Make unbending" , "Add starch" , "Become more rigid" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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