Crossword Genius

Son heading for difficult situation at traffic signal (4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stop light

'traffic signal' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'son heading for difficult situation' is the wordplay.
'son' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son).
'heading for' becomes 'to' (to head for a place is to go to it).
'difficult situation' becomes 'plight' (I've seen this before).
's'+'to'+'plight'='STOP-LIGHT'

'at' acts as a link.

(Another definition for stop light that I've seen is " makes motorist see red".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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