Crossword Genius

Bad fire at development (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

offshoot

'development' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'bad fire' is the wordplay.
'bad' becomes 'off' (I've seen this before).
'fire' becomes 'shoot' (shooting is a kind of firing).
'off'+'shoot'='OFFSHOOT'

'at' is the link.

(Other definitions for offshoot that I've seen before include "Branch, derivative" , "Business subdivision, say" , "Derivative; scion" , "Something developing from another" , "Subsidiary product or branch" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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