Crossword Genius

He faces the wall (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

plasterer

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

'he faces the wall' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.

'he faces the' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found in the answer.
'he' could be 'ase' and 'ase' is present in the remaining letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for plasterer that I've seen before include "Artisan" , "may get one drunk?" , "Coverer of walls, ceilings, etc" , "Tradesman" , "One covering walls" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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