Crossword Genius

Stylish houses left for footman (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

flunky

'footman' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'stylish houses left' is the wordplay.
'stylish' becomes 'funky'.
'houses' indicates putting letters inside.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'funky' placed around 'l' is 'FLUNKY'.

'for' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for flunky that I've seen before include "Uniformed footman" , "Liveried footman" , "servant" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app