Crossword Genius

Receive wage and discover it's a pound missing (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

earn

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'receive' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'wage and discover it's a pound missing' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found within the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is found within the answer.
A single letter 'r' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for earn that I've seen before include "Receive by effort" , "Warrant" , "Deserve; get paid" , "Merit (a reward)" , "Make money" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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