Crossword Genius

Quite bad as an illustration (3,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ill say

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'quite' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'bad as an illustration' is the wordplay.
'bad' becomes 'ill' (associated in meaning).
'as an illustration' becomes 'say' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ill'+'say'='ILL SAY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ill say that I've seen before include "Indubitably" , "Absolutely!" , "Definitely" , "Injuries" , "Quite so!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times and The Sunday Times.
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