Crossword Genius

Being there at a certain time to take the floor (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

attendance

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'being there' is the definition.
(to attend something is to be at it)

'a certain time to take the floor' is the wordplay.
'certain' becomes 'the' (definite article - refers to a certain object).
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'to take' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'floor' becomes 'tendance' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'the'+'t'='athet'
'athet' with 'the' taken away is 'at'.
'at'+'tendance'='ATTENDANCE'

'at' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for attendance that I've seen before include "People present" , "Turnout" , "how many are watching?" , "Act of being present" , "all that turned up" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.
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