Crossword Genius

Quality of slow service with sailor needing to eat on ship (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tardiness

'quality of slow service' is the definition.
(tardiness means slowness)

'sailor needing to eat on ship' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (slang term for a sailor).
'needing' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'to eat' becomes 'dine' (to dine is to eat a meal).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'tar'+'dine'+'ss'='TARDINESS'

'with' is the link.

(Other definitions for tardiness that I've seen before include "Unpunctuality" , "Habit of being late" , "Delay" , "Becoming late" , "No quality in fast food" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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