Crossword Genius

Fathers express little gratitude for spaghetti (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pasta

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'spaghetti' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'fathers express little gratitude' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'fathers' could be 'pas' (pa is a kind of father) and 'pas' is present in the answer.
'gratitude' could be 'ta' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'ta' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'for' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pasta that I've seen before include "Eg, lasagne" , "Italian foodstuff" , "Plain food" , "Spaghetti, orzo etc" , "Eg, spaghetti" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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