Crossword Genius

Endless dearth affected footfall (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tread

'footfall' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'endless dearth affected' is the wordplay.
'endless' means to remove the last letter.
'affected' indicates an anagram.
'dearth' with its last letter taken off is 'deart'.
'deart' anagrammed gives 'TREAD'.

(Other definitions for tread that I've seen before include "Sole of a shoe" , "Step (heavily)" , "Moulded part of a tyre" , "way of dancing" , "Put one's foot down!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.