Crossword Genius

Demanding I wake without drug (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

onerous

'demanding' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'i wake without drug' is the wordplay.
'i' becomes 'one' ('one' can be a synonym of 'i'**).
'wake' becomes 'rouse' (I've seen this before).
'without' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'drug' becomes 'e' (e is another name for ecstasy).
'rouse' with 'e' taken out is 'rous'.
'one'+'rous'='ONEROUS'

(Other definitions for onerous that I've seen before include "Trying" , "Toilsome" , "Effortful" , "No euros? That's burdensome" , "Burdensome, demanding" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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