Crossword Genius

Sharper knife's lost one time (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cuter

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'sharper' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are comparative adjectives. Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'knife's lost one time' is the wordplay.
'knife's' becomes 'cut' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'lost' suggests deleting specific letters.
'one' becomes 'a' (a thing is one thing).
'time' becomes 'era' (era is a kind of time).
'era' with 'a' taken out is 'er'.
'cut'+'er'='CUTER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cuter that I've seen before include "Having raised appeal" , "More attractive" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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