Crossword Genius

Drug substitute in location, outskirts of Bilbao (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

placebo

'drug substitute' is the definition.

'location outskirts of bilbao' is the wordplay.
'location' becomes 'place' (place is a kind of location).
'outskirts of' suggests removing the centre.
'bilbao' with its middle taken out is 'bo'.
'place'+'bo'='PLACEBO'

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for placebo that I've seen before include "Medical treatment whose effect is psychological" , "Harmless substance as medicine to sooth patient" , "Inactive medicine" , "drug for clinical trial" , "innocuous dose" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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