Crossword Genius

Hot dish, then cold, very cold (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

baltic

'very cold' is the definition.
(baltic can informally mean very cold)

'hot dish then cold' is the wordplay.
'hot dish' becomes 'balti' (I've seen this before).
'then' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'balti'+'c'='BALTIC'

(Other definitions for baltic that I've seen before include "North European sea" , "cold waters" , "Almost land-locked sea of NE Europe" , "Cab lit up the sea" , "Sea of northern Europe" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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