Crossword Genius

Derisive star having no time to meet academic in charge (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sardonic

'derisive' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'star having no time to meet academic in charge' is the wordplay.
'having no' suggests deleting specific letters.
'time' becomes 't'.
'to meet' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'academic' becomes 'don' (I've seen this before**).
'in charge' becomes 'ic'.
'star' with 't' taken out is 'sar'.
'sar'+'don'+'ic'='SARDONIC'

(Other definitions for sardonic that I've seen before include "Grimly cynical" , "Derisively ironic" , "Cynical -- so rancid (anag)" , "Disdainfully or ironically humorous" , "Tart" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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