Crossword Genius

False hope develops around New Year (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

phoney

'false' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'hope develops around new year' is the wordplay.
'develops' is an anagram indicator.
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'year' becomes 'y'.
'hope' with letters rearranged gives 'phoe'.
'phoe' placed around 'n' is 'phone'.
'phone'+'y'='PHONEY'

(Other definitions for phoney that I've seen before include "Sham, not genuine or sincere" , "Not genuine, insincere" , "Fraud" , "Fraudulent" , "Fake, misleading" .)

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.