Crossword Genius

Rough peacekeepers about to get penalised (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

unrefined

'rough' is the definition.
('unrefined' can be similar in meaning to 'rough')

'peacekeepers about to get penalised' is the wordplay.
'peacekeepers' becomes 'un'.
'about' becomes 're' (regarding**).
'to get' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'penalised' becomes 'fined' ('fined' can be a synonym of 'penalized').
'un'+'re'+'fined'='UNREFINED'

(Other definitions for unrefined that I've seen before include "Coarse" , "rude" , "Rough" , "Crude" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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