Protracted groan wouldn’t hurt (4-5-3)

I believe the answer is:

long-drawn-out

'protracted' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'groan wouldn't hurt' is the wordplay.
'hurt' indicates an anagram.
'groan'+'wouldnt'='groanwouldnt'
'groanwouldnt' is an anagram of 'LONG-DRAWN-OUT'.

(Other definitions for long-drawn-out that I've seen before include "Unduly extended" , "Unduly protracted" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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