Crossword Genius

Time-wasting sobbing soprano giving bollockings (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

earfuls

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

'time-wasting sobbing' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'soprano giving bollockings' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'soprano' could be 's' (musical abbreviation) and 's' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'earful' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for earfuls that I've seen before include "lectures" , "reprimands" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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