Crossword Genius

Appeal for help gets nothing or nothing special (2-2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

so-so

'nothing special' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'appeal for help gets nothing' is the wordplay.
'appeal for help' becomes 'sos' (I've seen this before).
'gets' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'nothing' becomes 'O' (looks like zero - 0).
'sos'+'o'='SO-SO'

'or' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for so-so that I've seen before include "Fair to middling" , "Barely passable" , "Native of Seville" , "Tolerable, indifferent" , "just about adequate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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