Crossword Genius

Small group Elder perhaps notes outside hotel (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

threesome

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

'small group' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'elder perhaps notes outside hotel' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'notes' could be 'some' ('so' and 'me' are musical notes) and 'some' is located in the answer.
'hotel' could be 'h' (phonetic alphabet) and 'h' is found within the answer.
'elder' could be 'tree' (elder is a type of tree) and 'tree' is present in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for threesome that I've seen before include "Small group of people" , "Horse meet (anag.)" , "Chekhov's sisters" , "Freeman Hardy Willis, say" , "The Fates, perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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