Crossword Genius

Bullying bear, supposedly, in heartless Tory (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thuggery

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

'bear supposedly in heartless tory' is the wordplay.
'bear supposedly' becomes 'hugger' (as in a bear hug).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'heartless' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'tory' with its centre removed is 'ty'.
'hugger' inserted within 'ty' is 'THUGGERY'.

(Other definitions for thuggery that I've seen before include "Brutal behaviour" , "Aggressive violence" , "Bullying" , "Violent behaviour" , "ruffianism" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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