Sad effort forming compromises (5-4)

I believe the answer is:

trade-offs

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'compromises' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'sad effort forming' is the wordplay.
'forming' is an anagram indicator.
'sad'+'effort'='sadeffort'
'sadeffort' is an anagram of 'TRADE-OFFS'.

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I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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