Crossword Genius

Ninth drought and one will be suffering — crops being this? (4,2,3,6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thin on the ground

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'crops being this?' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'ninth drought and one will be suffering' is the wordplay.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'will be suffering' indicates an anagram.
'ninth'+'drought'+'one'='ninthdroughtone'
'ninthdroughtone' with letters rearranged gives 'THIN ON THE GROUND'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thin on the ground that I've seen before include "Rare" , "Present in very small numbers" , "A sprinkling of snow" , "scarce" , "description of weedy fighter after KO?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.