Crossword Genius

Depression, after initially fading, is difficult (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rough

'difficult' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'depression after initially fading' is the wordplay.
'depression' becomes 'trough' (trough is a kind of depression).
'after initially fading' means to remove the first letter (the initial fades away).
'trough' with its first letter taken off is 'ROUGH'.

'is' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for rough that I've seen before include "Rasping" , "general" , "Hard - coarse - inexact" , "Boisterous - thug" , "Nasty" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app