Crossword Genius

About time to shut up (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cage

'shut up' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'about time' is the wordplay.
'about' becomes 'c' (abbreviation for 'circa').
'time' becomes 'age' (age is a kind of time**).
'c'+'age'='CAGE'

'to' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for cage that I've seen before include "Imprison, confine" , "Composer working in silence" , "he used to write down scores" , "Put in prison" , "John ---, composer; one with bars" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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