Crossword Genius

A story, nipper's prime requirement, had to be off-putting (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

alienate

'be off-putting' is the definition.
(to alienate someone is to put them off)

'a story nipper's prime requirement had' is the wordplay.
'story' becomes 'lie' (story can mean a fabrication).
'prime requirement' says to take the initial letters.
'had' becomes 'ate' (e.g. I had an ice cream).
The initial letter of 'nippers' is 'n'.
'a'+'lie'+'n'+'ate'='ALIENATE'

'to' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for alienate that I've seen before include "divorce" , "Arouse hostility" , "Make hostile, cause to become unfriendly" , "transfer" , "A Count, worked to unify Italy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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