Crossword Genius

Father's not so much at home -- it's easy (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

painless

'easy' is the definition.
('painless' can be similar in meaning to 'easy')

'father's not so much at home' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'pa' (pa is a kind of father).
'not so much' becomes 'less' (I've seen this before).
'at' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'home' becomes 'in' ('he's home' can mean 'he's in').
'less' put after 'in' is 'inless'.
'pa'+'inless'='PAINLESS'

'it's' is the link.

(Other definitions for painless that I've seen before include "Trouble free" , "Not causing suffering, like spaniels" , "Needing little effort" , "Easy - without suffering" , "Involving little effort or stress" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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