Crossword Genius

Male at top of excellent club (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mace

'club' is the definition.
(mace can mean a club or stick)

'male at top of excellent' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'at top of' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters go on top of others).
'excellent' becomes 'ace' (ace can informally mean very good).
'm'+'ace'='MACE'

(Other definitions for mace that I've seen before include "Staff of office for a flavouring" , "Staff of office and a spice" , "Came to get ceremonial staff" , "Spiked club" , "put on the rack?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.