Crossword Genius

Small and friendly crowd (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

swarm

'crowd' is the definition.
(swarming is a kind of crowding)

'small and friendly' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'friendly' becomes 'warm' ('warm' can be a synonym of 'friendly').
's'+'warm'='SWARM'

(Other definitions for swarm that I've seen before include "Horde" , "Mob" , "Body of bees" , "Go to form new colony" , "Congregate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express and The Telegraph.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.