Crossword Genius

Heading for stairs, step in room (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

space

'room' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'heading for stairs step' is the wordplay.
'heading for' indicates taking the first letters.
'step' becomes 'pace' ('pace' can be a synonym of 'step').
The first letter of 'stairs' is 's'.
's'+'pace'='SPACE'

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for space that I've seen before include "Free area" , ""The final frontier"" , "sci-fi theme" , "Gap; --- Oddity (Bowie)" , "Interstellar vacuum" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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