Crossword Genius

Shame about hard Concise (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pithy

'concise' is the definition.
('pithy' can be similar in meaning to 'concise')

'shame about hard' is the wordplay.
'shame' becomes 'pity' ('pity' can be a synonym of 'shame').
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'hard' becomes 'h'.
'pity' going around 'h' is 'PITHY'.

(Other definitions for pithy that I've seen before include "Brief, to the point" , "Concise and full of meaning" , "(Of language) terse, strongly expressive" , "Short and to the point" , "Short and sweet" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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