Crossword Genius

Cancel culture initially has a problem linked to Society (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scrub

'cancel' is the definition.
(scrub can mean to cancel or erase)

'culture initially has a problem linked to society' is the wordplay.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'has' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a problem' becomes 'rub' (the rub can mean a problem or catch).
'linked to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
The initial letter of 'culture' is 'c'.
'c'+'rub' is 'crub'.
'crub' put after 's' is 'SCRUB'.

(Other definitions for scrub that I've seen before include "Eradicate" , "Take out - clean" , "Area of dense stunted vegetation" , "Clean by rubbing really hard" , "Cancel (informal)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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