Crossword Genius

Surface cut short ahead (4,2)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

crop up

'surface' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'cut short ahead' is the wordplay.
'cut short' becomes 'crop' ('crop' can be a synonym of 'cut short').
'ahead' becomes 'up' ('up' can be similar in meaning to 'ahead').
'crop'+'up'='CROP UP'

(Other definitions for crop up that I've seen before include "Occur, arise" , "Appear unexpectedly" , "Occur unexpectedly - like harvest?" , "Occur by chance - like harvest?" , "Happen" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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