Crossword Genius

Absentee? Mostly loyal worker (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

truant

'absentee?' is the definition.
(truant is a kind of absentee)

'mostly loyal worker' is the wordplay.
'mostly' means to remove the last letter.
'loyal' becomes 'true' (I've seen this before).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant**).
'true' with its final letter taken off is 'tru'.
'tru'+'ant'='TRUANT'

(Other definitions for truant that I've seen before include "One cutting school" , "Pupil absent without permission" , "Child who stays away from school without leave" , "Pupil staying away from school" , "School avoider" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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