Crossword Genius

Sad sheriffs suggest releasing Western (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lamentable

'sad' is the definition.
(I know that sad can be written as lamentable)

'sheriffs suggest releasing western' is the wordplay.
'sheriffs' becomes 'lawmen' (lawman can mean a US sheriff).
'suggest' becomes 'table' (as in tabling a motion).
'releasing' suggests deleting specific letters.
'western' becomes 'w'.
'lawmen'+'table'='lawmentable'
'lawmentable' with 'w' taken away is 'LAMENTABLE'.

(Other definitions for lamentable that I've seen before include "Pitiful" , "Deplorable, regrettable" , "Awful" , "Sorry" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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