Crossword Genius

Being sloppy makes the French cross (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lax

'being sloppy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the french cross' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'la'.
'cross' becomes 'x' (**).
'la'+'x'='LAX'

'makes' is the link.

(Other definitions for lax that I've seen before include "Not strict enough" , "Casual" , "Insufficiently strict" , "Not sufficiently careful" , "Slapdash" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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