Crossword Genius

James Bond's colleagues not alpha males (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

gents

'males' is the definition.
(gent is a kind of male)

'james bond's colleagues not alpha' is the wordplay.
'james bond's colleagues' becomes 'agents'.
'not' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'alpha' becomes 'a' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'agents' with 'a' taken away is 'GENTS'.

(Other definitions for gents that I've seen before include "Men (colloq.)" , "Male loos" , "toilet" , "Public convenience" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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