Crossword Genius

Article on sex withdrawn due to church, once (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tithe

'due to church once' is the definition.
(tithe was historically paid to the church)

'article on sex withdrawn' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'the' (the definite article in English).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'sex' becomes 'it' (a common euphemism).
'withdrawn' is a reversal indicator.
'it' back-to-front is 'ti'.
'the' put after 'ti' is 'TITHE'.

(Other definitions for tithe that I've seen before include "Tenth part paid to a church" , "donation to church" , "church funding" , "Ancient tax" , "Tenth (of one's earnings)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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