Crossword Genius

Sharp decline in poverty (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

shortage

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'poverty' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'sharp decline' is the wordplay.
'sharp' becomes 'short' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'decline' becomes 'age' (get older).
'short'+'age'='SHORTAGE'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for shortage that I've seen before include "Horse tag (anag.)" , "Scarcity" , "Want" , "Dearth, lack" , "Insufficiency" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times and The Times.
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