Crossword Genius

Hostility as I am surrounded by a group of students (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animus

'hostility' is the definition.
(I know that animus is a type of hostility)

'i am surrounded by a group of students' is the wordplay.
'i am' becomes 'I'm' (contraction).
'surrounded by' is an insertion indicator.
'group of students' becomes 'NUS' (National Union of Students).
'a'+'nus'='anus'
'im' placed into 'anus' is 'ANIMUS'.

'as' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for animus that I've seen before include "Motivating spirit" , "Feeling of strong dislike" , "Bad blood" , "A feeling of ill will or hostility" , "Hostility, ill-feeling" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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