Crossword Genius

Drug substitute in location: Bilbao's outskirts (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

placebo

'drug substitute' is the definition.

'location bilbao's outskirts' is the wordplay.
'location' becomes 'place' (a location is a place).
'outskirts' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (I've seen 'outskirts of' mean this).
'bilbao' with its centre removed is 'bo'.
'place'+'bo'='PLACEBO'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for placebo that I've seen before include "memorial service" , "Medicine working by psychology only" , "Inert drug" , "Medicine with no therapeutic effect" , "Inert pill" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent and The Sun.
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