Crossword Genius

Love extremely avid speech (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

adoration

'love' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'extremely avid speech' is the wordplay.
'extremely' suggests removing the centre.
'speech' becomes 'oration' (oration is a kind of speech**).
'avid' with its centre taken out is 'ad'.
'ad'+'oration'='ADORATION'

(Other definitions for adoration that I've seen before include "Great affection" , "What star gets from fans" , "Worship, veneration" , "Honour" , "Deep love and respect" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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