Crossword Genius

Absurd act of cleaner forced male to leave (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

charade

'absurd act' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'cleaner forced male to leave' is the wordplay.
'cleaner' becomes 'char' (char can mean a cleaner).
'forced' becomes 'made' (both can mean coerced).
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'to leave' is a deletion indicator.
'made' with 'm' taken away is 'ade'.
'char'+'ade'='CHARADE'

'of' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for charade that I've seen before include "Game in which the puzzle is acted out" , "Party game using mime" , "absurd behaviour" , "An absurd pretence, or a guessing game" , "Absurd pretence to create a good impression" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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