Crossword Genius

Where gladiators fought for a warm-hearted woman (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

arena

'where gladiators fought' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'a warm-hearted woman' is the wordplay.
'hearted' means to look at the middle letters.
'woman' becomes 'ena' (feminine given name).
The central letters of 'warm' are 'ar'.
'ar'+'ena'='ARENA'

'for' is the link.

(Other definitions for arena that I've seen before include "Scene of action" , "Central area in sports stadium" , "sports ground" , "Field of combat" , "An era (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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