Crossword Genius

Notes are set out along such lines for workforce (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

staff

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

'for workforce' is the definition.
(both can mean a group of workers)

'notes are set out along such lines' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'notes' could be 'ff' (two F's - as in the musical note F) and 'ff' is present in the answer.
'are' could be 'a' (short for 'are', historical unit of measurement) and 'a' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'st' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for staff that I've seen before include "support for notes" , "Stick of authority" , "Baton" , "teachers possibly used" , "Rod of authority" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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