Crossword Genius

Feeble commercial ban a few accept (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

threadbare

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'feeble' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'commercial ban a few accept' is the wordplay.
'commercial' becomes 'ad'.
'ban' becomes 'bar' (I've seen this before).
'a few' becomes 'three' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'accept' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ad'+'bar'='adbar'
'adbar' going into 'three' is 'THREADBARE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for threadbare that I've seen before include "Hackneyed" , "Thin, tattered, worn out" , "cliche-ridden" , "Shabby" , "Has little nap" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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