Crossword Genius

Serving man sides with gangster in early years (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

girlhood

'early years' is the definition.
(young years of a girl)

'serving man sides with gangster' is the wordplay.
'serving man' becomes 'gi' (GI can mean a soldier serving in the US army).
'sides' becomes 'RL' (abbreviations for left and right).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'gangster' becomes 'hood' (I've seen this before).
'gi'+'rl'+'hood'='GIRLHOOD'

'in' acts as a link.

(Another definition for girlhood that I've seen is " State of being a female child".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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