Crossword Genius

Way to communicate in period without company (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

intercom

'way to communicate' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'in period without company' is the wordplay.
'period' becomes 'term' (term is a kind of period).
'without' means one lot of letters goes inside another ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'term' enclosing 'co' is 'tercom'.
'in'+'tercom'='INTERCOM'

(Other definitions for intercom that I've seen before include "System of communication by radio or telephone" , "Short-range telephone system" , "Means of transmitting messages" , "Speaker system" , "way to communicate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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