Providing a fine crossing (9)

I believe the answer is:

affording

'providing' is the definition.
(affording is a kind of providing)

'a fine crossing' is the wordplay.
'a fine' becomes 'af' (I've seen this in other clues).
'crossing' becomes 'fording' (fording is a kind of crossing).
'af'+'fording'='AFFORDING'

(Another definition for affording that I've seen is " Providing".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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