Crossword Genius

Danger briefly upset teacher (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sir

'teacher' is the definition.
(way of addressing a male teacher)

'danger briefly upset' is the wordplay.
'danger' becomes 'risk' (synonyms).
'briefly' means to remove the last letter.
'upset' is a reversal indicator.
'risk' with its last letter taken off is 'ris'.
'ris' backwards is 'SIR'.

(Other definitions for sir that I've seen before include "Title of 1 across" , "as Winston Churchill was" , "Gentleman's form of address" , "Knight's prefix" , "Term of address for a gentleman" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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