Crossword Genius

White lies from sermons disrupting geniality (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bonhomie

'geniality' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'white lies from sermons disrupting' is the wordplay.
'white' becomes 'bone' (bone is a kind of white).
'from' is a deletion indicator.
'sermons' becomes 'homilies' (homily is a kind of sermon).
'disrupting' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inside letters 'disrupt' the flow of outside one).
'homilies' with 'lies' taken out is 'homi'.
'bone' going around 'homi' is 'BONHOMIE'.

(Other definitions for bonhomie that I've seen before include "Good-natured friendliness" , "genial nature" , "convivial feeling" , "Warmth" , "Exuberant friendliness - goodwill" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app