Crossword Genius

Mostly loyal worker becomes absentee (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

truant

'absentee' is the definition.
(truant is a kind of absentee)

'mostly loyal worker' is the wordplay.
'mostly' means to remove the last letter.
'loyal' becomes 'true' (I've seen this before).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant**).
'true' with its final letter taken away is 'tru'.
'tru'+'ant'='TRUANT'

'becomes' is the link.

(Other definitions for truant that I've seen before include "Academic absentee" , "Pupil absent without permission" , "not learning lesson" , "Kid bunking off school" , "Inexcusably absent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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