Crossword Genius

Ascetic pair in a cult novel (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

puritanical

'ascetic' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'pair in a cult novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates an anagram.
'pair'+'in'+'a'+'cult'='pairinacult'
'pairinacult' is an anagram of 'PURITANICAL'.

(Other definitions for puritanical that I've seen before include "Strict-minded" , "likely to curtail pleasure" , "Strictly moral in conduct" , "Morally very strict" , "Very strict, censorious" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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