Crossword Genius

International exams recalled by head of school — still time? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stasis

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'still time?' is the definition.

'international exams recalled by head of school' is the wordplay.
'international' becomes 'i' (abbreviation eg in IMF).
'exams' becomes 'sats' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'recalled' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'head of' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'school' is 's'.
'i'+'sats'='isats'
'isats' backwards is 'stasi'.
'stasi'+'s'='STASIS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stasis that I've seen before include "Inactive state" , "Period of inactivity" , "Inactivity or stoppage of circulation" , "Cessation" , "Assist with stagnant condition" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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