Crossword Genius

Questionable silence about Catholic rings (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

encircles

'rings' is the definition.
('encircle' can be a synonym of 'ring')

'questionable silence about catholic' is the wordplay.
'questionable' indicates an anagram.
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'catholic' becomes 'rc' (I've seen this in other clues).
'silence' is an anagram of 'enciles'.
'enciles' enclosing 'rc' is 'ENCIRCLES'.

(Another definition for encircles that I've seen is " Goes round".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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