Crossword Genius

Formerly called extremely dirty and poor (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

needy

'poor' is the definition.
(I know that needy is a type of poor)

'formerly called extremely dirty' is the wordplay.
'formerly called' becomes 'nee' (nee is used to show someone's birth name).
'extremely' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (only the extremes of the word are used).
'dirty' with its middle removed is 'dy'.
'nee'+'dy'='NEEDY'

'and' is the link.

(Other definitions for needy that I've seen before include "badly craving affection" , "clinging" , "Penurious" , "Disadvantaged" , "Poor; indigent" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.