Crossword Genius

Way of approaching things on the telephone from country house (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

manor

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'country house' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'way of approaching things on' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'n' (Compass direction - North).
'of' becomes 'o''.
'approaching things' becomes 'mar' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'on' indicates putting letters inside (as in clothing 'on' a person).
'n'+'o'='no'
'no' inserted inside 'mar' is 'MANOR'.

'the telephone from' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for manor that I've seen before include "Large country house with lands" , "Operational base" , "Lord's estate" , "Large country house for Roman" , "Grand country house" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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