Crossword Genius

Terrible, terrible actors bearing evidence of debt (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

atrocious

'terrible' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'terrible actors bearing evidence of debt' is the wordplay.
'terrible' indicates an anagram.
'bearing' is an insertion indicator.
'evidence of debt' becomes 'iou' (an IOU, 'I owe you').
'actors' with letters rearranged gives 'atrocs'.
'atrocs' enclosing 'iou' is 'ATROCIOUS'.

(Other definitions for atrocious that I've seen before include "Appallingly bad" , "Horrifying" , "Shocking" , "Foolish" , "Extremely wicked" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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