Advert claiming merit so inappropriately paid off (9)
I believe the answer is:
amortised
'paid off' is the definition.
(amortising is a kind of paying off)
'advert claiming merit so inappropriately' is the wordplay.
'advert' becomes 'ad' (synonyms).
'claiming' indicates putting letters inside.
'inappropriately' indicates an anagram (I've seen this in other clues).
'merit'+'so'='meritso'
'meritso' anagrammed gives 'mortise'.
'ad' going around 'mortise' is 'AMORTISED'.
(Another definition for amortised that I've seen is " Written off over time".)
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