Crossword Genius

Foxy observed mousy collecting newspapers (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shifty

'foxy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'mousy collecting newspapers' is the wordplay.
'mousy' becomes 'shy' (I've seen this in another clue).
'collecting' indicates putting letters inside.
'newspapers' becomes 'ift' (the i and the Financial Times are newspapers).
'shy' placed around 'ift' is 'SHIFTY'.

'observed' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. It may be part of another bit of the clue.

(Other definitions for shifty that I've seen before include "Unreliable" , "Shady, dubious" , "Evasive, sneaky" , "Sly, shady" , "Constantly changing; deceitful, evasive" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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