Crossword Genius

Salt, say, in short shanty? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

season

'salt say' is the definition.
(salting is a kind of seasoning)

'short shanty?' is the wordplay.
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'shanty?' becomes 'seasong' (a shanty is a sea song).
'seasong' with its final letter removed is 'SEASON'.

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for season that I've seen before include "Particular time (for activity, conditions etc)" , "Add condiments to for time of year" , "Spring, say" , "eg Winter" , "Add flavouring" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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