Crossword Genius

A lad pitied awful waste (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dilapidate

'waste' is the definition.

'a lad pitied awful' is the wordplay.
'awful' is an anagram indicator.
'a'+'lad'+'pitied'='aladpitied'
'aladpitied' is an anagram of 'DILAPIDATE'.

(Another definition for dilapidate that I've seen is " Cause to fall into ruin".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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