Crossword Genius

Vice-president holding up English money in show of contrition (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

penitence

'show of contrition' is the definition.

'vice-president holding up english money' is the wordplay.
'vice-president' becomes 'pence' (Mike Pence).
'holding' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'up' is a reversal indicator (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'money' becomes 'tin' (I've seen this before**).
'e'+'tin'='etin'
'etin' reversed gives 'nite'.
'pence' placed around 'nite' is 'PENITENCE'.

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for penitence that I've seen before include "display of remorse" , "A show of regret for wrongdoing" , "Contriteness" , "shame" , "Contrition, remorse" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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