Crossword Genius

Disastrous scratch — patio ruined (12)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

catastrophic

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

'scratch patio ruined' is the wordplay.
'ruined' indicates an anagram.
'scratch'+'patio'='scratchpatio'
'scratchpatio' with letters rearranged gives 'CATASTROPHIC'.

(Other definitions for catastrophic that I've seen before include "Extremely unfortunate" , "Chaotic parts (anag)" , "Causing sudden damage" , "Disastrous" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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