Crossword Genius

Are resident in home, like family members, often (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nearest

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'often' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adverbs. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'are resident in home like family members' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'are' is 'ear' which is present in the answer.
'home' could be 'nest' (a bird's home) and 'nest' is located in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nearest that I've seen before include "Relations" , "touching?" , "Close family members" , "Rat seen (anag.)" , "Most imminent - most mean" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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