Crossword Genius

Zany dance for prison guards? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

screwball

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

'dance for prison guards?' is the wordplay.
'dance' becomes 'ball' (ball is a kind of dance).
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (I've seen this in other clues).
'prison guards?' becomes 'screw' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ball' after 'screw' is 'SCREWBALL'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for screwball that I've seen before include "Zany" , "touched person" , "odd fellow?" , "Crazy American" , "Wacky" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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