Crossword Genius

Help us with nothing to be fair (2-2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

so-so

'be fair' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'help us with nothing' is the wordplay.
'help us' becomes 'sos' (distress message Save Our Souls).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'nothing' becomes 'O' (looks like zero - 0).
'sos'+'o'='SO-SO'

'to' is the link.

(Other definitions for so-so that I've seen before include "Informally, only moderately good or well" , "Fair to middling" , "Indifferently good" , "Only moderately good in repetitive way" , "Rather middling" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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