Promise extreme hardship (6)

I believe the answer is:

plight

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This could be a double definition.

'promise extreme' is the first definition.
'plight' can be an answer for 'promise' (plighting is a kind of promising). I am unsure of the 'extreme' bit.

'hardship' is the second definition.
(thesaurus)

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for plight that I've seen before include "Serious predicament" , "Jam" , "Alarming predicament" , "Unfortunate situation" , "Predicament, difficulty" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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