Crossword Genius

Dull drunk left on time (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

literal

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'dull' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'drunk left on time' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'drunk' could be 'lit' (slang term) and 'lit' is found within the answer.
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is found within the answer.
'time' could be 'era' (an era is a period of time) and 'era' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for literal that I've seen before include "typographical error" , "primary sense" , "character fault?" , "Word-for-word" , "Following the exact meaning" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sun and The Independent.
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