Crossword Genius

Article placed on top of room unit (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

therm

'unit' is the definition.
(therm is a kind of unit)

'article placed on top of room' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article).
'placed on top of' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, some letters go on top of others).
'room' becomes 'rm' (abbreviation for room).
'the'+'rm'='THERM'

(Other definitions for therm that I've seen before include "Unit of heat used in the UK as the basis of gas bills" , "Unit of heat energy" , "Unit of heat as in gas supply" , "Former gas supply unit" , "Unit of heat and gas measure" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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