Crossword Genius

Coarse little devil about to pinch uniform (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

impure

'coarse' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'little devil about to pinch uniform' is the wordplay.
'little devil' becomes 'imp' (an imp is a little demon).
'about' becomes 're' ('re' means regarding or about).
'to pinch' indicates putting letters inside.
'uniform' becomes 'U' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'imp'+'re'='impre'
'impre' going around 'u' is 'IMPURE'.

(Other definitions for impure that I've seen before include "Adulterated or unchaste" , "Defiled" , "Tainted, not chaste" , "Adulterated, tainted" , "Corrupt" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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