Crossword Genius

Help retired head of lyceum to make call (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dial

'call' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'help retired head of lyceum' is the wordplay.
'help' becomes 'aid' ('aid' can be a synonym of 'help').
'retired' is a reversal indicator.
'head of' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letter of 'lyceum' is 'l'.
'aid' in reverse letter order is 'dia'.
'dia'+'l'='DIAL'

'to make' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for dial that I've seen before include "Watch face" , "Clock face" , "Meter face" , "Ring the clock-face" , "Calibrated disc etc" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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