Crossword Genius

A series about division creating unnecessary panic (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

alarmist

'creating unnecessary panic' is the definition.

'a series about division' is the wordplay.
'series' becomes 'list' (I have seen 'Series of entries ' mean 'list' so perhaps 'series' could also mean 'list').
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'division' becomes 'arm' (arm is a kind of division**).
'list' going around 'arm' is 'larmist'.
'a'+'larmist'='ALARMIST'

(Other definitions for alarmist that I've seen before include "(Person) creating unnecessary panic" , "One who cries wolf" , "One may cause panic" , "Calamity Jane" , "One who exaggerates a danger" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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