Crossword Genius

Hardy character providing some steam for a ship (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tess

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'hardy character' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'providing some steam for a ship' is the wordplay.
'providing' becomes 't' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'some' indicates the central letters.
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
The middle of 'steam' is 'e'.
't'+'e'+'ss'='TESS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tess that I've seen before include "Lady" , "20 heroine" , "- of the d'Urbevilles (Hardy)" , "tragic heroine" , "Hardy female" .)

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.