Crossword Genius

Court without officials to begin with (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

woo

'court' is the definition.
(both can mean to romance someone)

'without officials to begin with' is the wordplay.
'without' becomes 'wo' (abbreviation of 'without', normally with a slash).
'to begin with' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'officials' is 'o'.
'wo'+'o'='WOO'

(Other definitions for woo that I've seen before include "Pay court to" , "Court, romance" , "Court a lady" , "Court, seek to marry" , "Court; importune" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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