Crossword Genius

Fool’s new pay cut works both ways (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nincompoop

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

'new pay cut works both ways' is the wordplay.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'pay' becomes 'income' (I've seen this before).
'cut' means to remove the last letter.
'works both ways' becomes 'poop' (op - as in opus - written backwards and forwards).
'income' with its final letter removed is 'incom'.
'n'+'incom'+'poop'='NINCOMPOOP'

(Other definitions for nincompoop that I've seen before include "Foolish person" , "Silly-billy" , "Twit" , "loony" , "Stupid person" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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