Curtailed period without reason, without courage (7)

I believe the answer is:

timidly

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'without courage' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'curtailed period without reason' is the wordplay.
'curtailed' means to remove the last letter.
'period' becomes 'time' (period of time).
'without reason' becomes 'idly' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'time' with its last letter taken away is 'tim'.
'tim'+'idly'='TIMIDLY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for timidly that I've seen before include "Fearfully" , "'Bashfully, shyly (7)'" , "without courage" , "In faint-hearted manner" , "In shy, nervous manner" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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