Crossword Genius

Pitiful way it turns up in City district (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pathetic

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

'pitiful' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'way it turns up in city district' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'way' could be 'path' (path is a kind of way) and 'path' is located in the answer.
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pathetic that I've seen before include "Sort of fallacy" , "Hapless, miserable" , "Tip cheat - truly sad" , "arousing contempt" , "Distressing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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