Crossword Genius

Like some matches after Friday finish, extremely lively (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

friendly

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'like some matches after' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'friday finish extremely lively' is the wordplay.
'friday' becomes 'fri' (synonyms).
'finish' becomes 'end' (come to an end).
'extremely' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (only the extremes of the word are used).
'lively' with its middle taken out is 'ly'.
'fri'+'end'+'ly'='FRIENDLY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for friendly that I've seen before include "on the same side" , "Amicable, favourably disposed" , "Sociable" , "match?" , "Amiable" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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