Crossword Genius

Extremely selfish communist has scrap (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shred

'scrap' is the definition.
(both can mean a small amount of material)

'extremely selfish communist' is the wordplay.
'extremely' suggests removing the centre (only the extremes of the word are used).
'communist' becomes 'red' (red can informally mean communist).
'selfish' with its middle removed is 'sh'.
'sh'+'red'='SHRED'

'has' is the link.

(Other definitions for shred that I've seen before include "Dispose of" , "(Reduce to) small piece(s)" , "Small piece torn from something" , "Tear; very small amount" , "Strip of material; a very small amount" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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