Crossword Genius

Idle chatter from friend, a part of speech cut short (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

palaver

'idle chatter' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'friend a part of speech cut short' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'part of speech' becomes 'verb' (verb is a kind of part of speech in grammar).
'cut short' means to remove the last letter.
'verb' with its last letter taken away is 'ver'.
'pal'+'a'+'ver'='PALAVER'

'from' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for palaver that I've seen before include "Song-and-dance" , "Confused talk and activity" , "Fuss and bother" , "'Flattery, empty talk (7)'" , "idle conversation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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