Crossword Genius

Worker supporting first man to get tough (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

adamant

'tough' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'worker supporting first man' is the wordplay.
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'supporting' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, some letters go below others).
'first man' becomes 'adam' (I've seen this before).
'ant' put after 'adam' is 'ADAMANT'.

'to get' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for adamant that I've seen before include "Resolute, refusing to yield" , "Positive and unrelenting" , "Inflexible, obdurate" , "Firmly unchanging" , "intractable" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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