Crossword Genius

Force company politician to meet heartless earl (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

compel

'force' is the definition.
(I know that force is a more specific form of compel)

'company politician to meet heartless earl' is the wordplay.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'politician' becomes 'MP' (Member of Parliament).
'to meet' says to put letters next to each other.
'heartless' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'earl' with its middle taken out is 'el'.
'co'+'mp'+'el'='COMPEL'

(Other definitions for compel that I've seen before include "Use force or influence to make something happen" , "Use force, oblige" , "Urge on, force" , "Bring about by force" , "drive on" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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