Crossword Genius

Old fool's party not finishing late (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dotard

'old fool's' is the definition.
(an old person whose mental faculties have declined)

'party not finishing late' is the wordplay.
'party' becomes 'do' (do can informally mean a party).
'not finishing' means to remove the last letter.
'late' becomes 'tardy' (synonyms).
'tardy' with its last letter removed is 'tard'.
'do'+'tard'='DOTARD'

(Other definitions for dotard that I've seen before include "Frail old man" , "Oldie suffering" , "Person old and feeble" , "Senior citizen" , "Old fogey" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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