Sad days loom, ultimately repeatedly (6)

I believe the answer is:

dreary

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'sad' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'days loom ultimately repeatedly' is the wordplay.
'days' becomes 'd' (abbreviation for days).
'loom' becomes 'rear' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ultimately' says to take the final letters.
The last letter of 'repeatedly' is 'y'.
'd'+'rear'+'y'='DREARY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for dreary that I've seen before include "Dismal, funeral" , "Dull, tedious" , "Cheerless and depressing" , "Gloomy and dismal" , "Dark" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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