Crossword Genius

Heard bucket faded (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pale

'faded' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'heard bucket' is the wordplay.
'heard' shows a homophone (sound like).
'bucket' becomes 'pail' ('pail' can be a synonym of 'bucket').
'pail' is a homophone of 'PALE'.

(Other definitions for pale that I've seen before include "White" , "Without much colour" , "beyond which one is out of line?" , "livid" , "Wan; boundary" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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