Crossword Genius

Bats heading off in a great crowd (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

army

'a great crowd' is the definition.

'bats heading off' is the wordplay.
'bats' becomes 'barmy' ('barmy' can be a synonym of 'bats').
'heading off' means to remove the first letter.
'barmy' with its first letter taken away is 'ARMY'.

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for army that I've seen before include "Large host" , "Military land force" , "A defence force" , "Military unit" , "See 17" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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