Crossword Genius

Relative presses old investigators about scrap (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

modicum

'scrap' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'relative presses old investigators about' is the wordplay.
'relative' becomes 'mum' (mum is a kind of relative).
'presses' indicates putting letters inside (some letters are pressed between others).
'old' becomes 'o' (abbreviation).
'investigators' becomes 'CID' (Criminal Investigation Department).
'about' is a reversal indicator.
'cid' in reverse letter order is 'dic'.
'o'+'dic'='odic'
'mum' going around 'odic' is 'MODICUM'.

(Other definitions for modicum that I've seen before include "Token amount" , "Tad" , "I cod Mum into providing a small quantity" , "Moderate quantity" , "Little bit" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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