Crossword Genius

Disaster due to a ruthless measure? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ruin

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'disaster' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a ruthless measure?' is the wordplay.
'a ruthless' becomes 'ru' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'measure?' becomes 'in' (in is a kind of measure).
'ru'+'in'='RUIN'

'due to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ruin that I've seen before include "Disaster, collapse" , "Destroy or bankrupt" , "failure" , "Building remains" , "loss of position" .)

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