Crossword Genius

Doctor cycles about area, runs hardly at all (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scarcely

'hardly at all' is the definition.
('scarcely' can be a synonym of 'hardly at all')

'doctor cycles about area runs' is the wordplay.
'doctor' indicates an anagram.
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'runs' becomes 'r' (cricket abbreviation).
'cycles' is an anagram of 'sccely'.
'a'+'r'='ar'
'sccely' enclosing 'ar' is 'SCARCELY'.

(Other definitions for scarcely that I've seen before include "Not quite" , "Surely not" , "Almost not" , "Barely, hardly" , "Only just or hardly even" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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