Crossword Genius

Pub with short lease, empty (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

barren

'empty' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'pub with short lease' is the wordplay.
'pub' becomes 'bar' (I've seen this before).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'lease' becomes 'rent' ('rent' can be a synonym of 'lease').
'rent' with its last letter taken away is 'ren'.
'bar'+'ren'='BARREN'

(Other definitions for barren that I've seen before include "Unable to bear young" , "Infertile, unproductive" , "Unable to bear fruit, not fertile" , "'Desolate, fallow (6)'" , "Sterile" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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