Crossword Genius

The state of a girl I'd embraced (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

florida

'the state' is the definition.
(US state)

'girl i'd embraced' is the wordplay.
'girl' becomes 'flora' ().
'embraced' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are embraced).
'flora' placed around 'id' is 'FLORIDA'.

'of a' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for florida that I've seen before include "American state, capital Tallahassee" , "Everglade State" , "US location" , "Miami's state" , "Everglades state" .)

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