Crossword Genius

Thick fog around delta (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

midst

'thick' is the definition.
(I know that thick can be written as midst)

'fog around delta' is the wordplay.
'fog' becomes 'mist' (mist is a kind of fog).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'delta' becomes 'd' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'mist' enclosing 'd' is 'MIDST'.

(Other definitions for midst that I've seen before include "Where one is surrounded by other things" , "Among, amid" , "Centre" , "Central part" , "In the middle of (archaic or literary)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.
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