Crossword Genius

Fire individual that's not succeeded (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ingle

'fire' is the definition.
(ingle means a fireplace)

'individual that's not succeeded' is the wordplay.
'individual' becomes 'single'.
'that's not' is a deletion indicator (that has not).
'succeeded' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation).
'single' with 's' taken out is 'INGLE'.

(Other definitions for ingle that I've seen before include "Fireplace for Nigel" , "warm part of house" , "potentially hot situation" , "Dizziness from imbalance" , "Catamite" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app