Crossword Genius

Not in business? Extremely miserable result (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

outcome

'result' is the definition.
('outcome' can be a synonym of 'result')

'not in business? extremely miserable' is the wordplay.
'not in' becomes 'out' ('out' is the opposite to 'in').
'business?' becomes 'co'.
'extremely' means to remove the middle letters.
'miserable' with its middle removed is 'me'.
'out'+'co'+'me'='OUTCOME'

(Other definitions for outcome that I've seen before include "Consequence, effect" , "'Result, upshot (7)'" , "Eventuality" , "End result" , "consequences" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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