A little sooner (6)

I believe the answer is:

rather

I believe this is a double definition.

'a little' is the first definition.
(thesaurus)

'sooner' is the second definition.
(thesaurus)

(Other definitions for rather that I've seen before include "A bit" , "somewhat > sooner? > Quite" , "Yes, please!" , "Quite; on the contrary" , "On the contrary; more precisely" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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