Crossword Genius

Beano cancelled after putting out extremely racist punchline (3-3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pay-off

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'punchline' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'beano cancelled after putting out extremely racist' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'cancelled' could be 'off' (similar in meaning) and 'off' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'pay' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pay-off that I've seen before include "Deserved reward" , "Final settlement - backhander" , "Result" , "Return on an investment" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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