Most deprived youth returned clutching passes (8)

I believe the answer is:

neediest

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'most deprived' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are superlative adjectives. Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'youth returned clutching passes' is the wordplay.
'youth' becomes 'teen' (teenager).
'returned' is a reversal indicator.
'clutching' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'passes' becomes 'dies' (passes away).
'teen' written backwards gives 'neet'.
'neet' enclosing 'dies' is 'NEEDIEST'.

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(Another definition for neediest that I've seen is " most desperate".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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