Crossword Genius

Lima taken in by Bill Stark (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bleak

'stark' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'lima taken in by bill' is the wordplay.
'lima' becomes 'l' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'taken in by' indicates putting letters inside.
'bill' becomes 'beak' ('beak' can be a synonym of 'bill'**).
'l' placed into 'beak' is 'BLEAK'.

(Other definitions for bleak that I've seen before include "Offering little hope" , "Dreary; fish" , "Bare, inhospitable" , "Cold, bare; a Dickensian House" , "Dreary; cold, miserable" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times (Crosaire) and the Irish Times.
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