Crossword Genius

To cap it, when rewritten the content is really awful (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pathetic

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'awful' is the definition.
(both can mean of poor quality)

'to cap it when rewritten the content is really' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'it' could be 't' (abbreviation. e.g. in 'tis) and 't' is found in the answer.
an anagram of 'the' is 'het' which is within the answer.
'content' could be 'ai' (AI is an example) and 'ai' is located in the remaining letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pathetic that I've seen before include "Poor" , "Inspiring pity, contempt" , "Poignant or hopelessly inadequate" , "Arousing pity, miserably inadequate" , "Derisory" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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