Crossword Genius

Managed to applaud heartless cowboy (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rancher

'cowboy' is the definition.
(I have seen 'A cowboy' mean 'rancher' so perhaps 'cowboy' could also mean 'rancher')

'managed to applaud heartless' is the wordplay.
'managed' becomes 'ran' (I've seen this before).
'to applaud' becomes 'cheer' (cheering is a kind of applauding).
'heartless' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters).
'cheer' with its centre removed is 'cher'.
'ran'+'cher'='RANCHER'

(Other definitions for rancher that I've seen before include "A cowboy" , "North American cattle farmer" , "Hacienda owner" , "Person with stock" , "Cattleman" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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