Crossword Genius

Comfortless role in school sickbay (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spartan

'comfortless' is the definition.
(spartan can mean lacking in comfort)

'role in school sickbay' is the wordplay.
'role' becomes 'part' (eg a part or role in a film).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'school sickbay' becomes 'san' (short for sanatorium, as in a boarding school).
'part' placed inside 'san' is 'SPARTAN'.

(Other definitions for spartan that I've seen before include "Frugal" , "Indifferent to comfort" , "Of conditions, simple and harsh as for ancient Greeks" , "Ascetic - ancient Greek" , "Plain" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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