Crossword Genius

Actor once a day gets tense in the back (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hurt

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'the back' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'actor once a day gets tense' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'tense' could be 't' (grammatical abbreviation) and 't' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'hur' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hurt that I've seen before include "Ache" , "Afflict" , "Cause pain to" , "Injure, pain" , "Injure - injury" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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