Crossword Genius

Shortage of boxes? Shame, but no pressure (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sparsity

'shortage' is the definition.
(I know that shortage can be written as sparsity)

'boxes? shame but no pressure' is the wordplay.
'boxes?' becomes 'spars' (sparring is a kind of boxing).
'shame' becomes 'pity' (synonyms).
'but no' is a deletion indicator.
'pressure' becomes 'p' (abbreviation).
'pity' with 'p' taken out is 'ity'.
'spars'+'ity'='SPARSITY'

'of' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for sparsity that I've seen before include "Thinly scattered state" , "Thinness of occurrence" , "Shortness of supply" , "Low density" , "Thinly-scattered state" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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