Crossword Genius

Address to cat cut short work (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

opus

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'work' is the definition.
(an opus is an artistic work)

'address to cat cut short' is the wordplay.
'address' becomes 'o' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to cat' becomes 'puss' (puss is a kind of cat).
'cut short' means to remove the last letter.
'puss' with its last letter taken away is 'pus'.
'o'+'pus'='OPUS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for opus that I've seen before include "A Latin work" , "Work (mus.)" , "Showing creative skill" , "Creative work, eg in writing, art or music" , "Work of 25 perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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