Crossword Genius

I rate inn poorly lots of years (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

triennia

'lots of years' is the definition.
(plural of triennium - a period of three years)

'i rate inn poorly' is the wordplay.
'poorly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'i'+'rate'+'inn'='irateinn'
'irateinn' with letters rearranged gives 'TRIENNIA'.

(Another definition for triennia that I've seen is " lengths of time".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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