Crossword Genius

After interval, judge is indifferent (5-4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

third-rate

'indifferent' is the definition.

'after interval judge' is the wordplay.
'after interval' becomes 'third' (third is a kind of interval. I am not sure about the 'after' bit.**).
'judge' becomes 'rate' (rating is a kind of judging).
'third'+'rate'='THIRD-RATE'

'is' is the link.

(Other definitions for third-rate that I've seen before include "Of very poor quality" , "Very inferior in numerical way" , "Very inferior in quality, using ordinal number" , "Very inferior in quality - count down" , "Very inferior in quality in numeric description" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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