Crossword Genius

Press forward with debts though not genuine (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

spurious

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'not genuine' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'press forward with debts' is the wordplay.
'press forward with' becomes 'spur' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'debts' becomes 'IOUs' (promises to pay debts).
'spur'+'ious'='SPURIOUS'

'though' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for spurious that I've seen before include "Contrived" , "Bogus" , "False, fake" , "Not genuine or authentic" , "Artificial and phoney" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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