Crossword Genius

Poor mate shot (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

paltry

'poor' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'mate shot' is the wordplay.
'mate' becomes 'pal' (I've seen this before).
'shot' becomes 'try' (I've seen this in other clues).
'pal'+'try'='PALTRY'

(Other definitions for paltry that I've seen before include "Worthless or trivial" , "not worth considering" , "Trivial, comtemptible" , "Petty - base" , "Feeble" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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