Crossword Genius

Part friends? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

estrange

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

'part friends?' is the definition.
'estrange' can be an answer for 'part' (thesaurus). I am not certain of the 'friends?' bit.

'part' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'part' could be 'range' (range is a kind of part) and 'range' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'est' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for estrange that I've seen before include "Cause to become unfriendly using reagents" , "separate" , "Make bad friends with sergeant" , "Cause to be alienated" , "drive apart" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail and The Guardian.
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