Crossword Genius

Judge trainee's inclusion as gloomy (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bleak

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

'gloomy' is the definition.
(bleak means gloomy or sad)

'judge trainee's inclusion' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'trainee' could be 'l' and 'l' is located in the answer.
'judge' could be 'beak' and 'beak' is present in the remaining letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'as' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bleak that I've seen before include "Desolate and barren" , "''... House'' (Dickens)" , "Exposed to the elements" , "Bare, inhospitable" , "Book by Dickens" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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