Crossword Genius

One character inferior to another (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

subscript

'one character' is the definition.
(subscript is a kind of character)

'inferior to another' is the wordplay.
'inferior' becomes 'sub'.
'to another' becomes 'script' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'sub'+'script'='SUBSCRIPT'

(Other definitions for subscript that I've seen before include "It's written below the line" , "It's written below and beside another character" , "writing this below the line" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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