Crossword Genius

Press a novel in short supply (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sparse

'in short supply' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'press a novel' is the wordplay.
'novel' is an anagram indicator.
'press'+'a'='pressa'
'pressa' anagrammed gives 'SPARSE'.

(Other definitions for sparse that I've seen before include "Thinly populated" , "Thinly spread" , "Thin on the ground, scarce" , "Thinly scattered, not dense" , "Meagre, thin on the ground" .)

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