Crossword Genius

Prick! Sackings extremely gratuitous (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

needless

'gratuitous' is the definition.
(gratuitous can mean needless or uncalled for)

'prick sackings extremely' is the wordplay.
'prick' becomes 'needle' (needling is a kind of pricking).
'extremely' means to remove the middle letters (only the extremes of the word are used).
'sackings' with its middle removed is 'ss'.
'needle'+'ss'='NEEDLESS'

(Other definitions for needless that I've seen before include "Gratuitous" , "Surplus to requirements" , "- - to say" , "without provocation?" , "uncalled for" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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