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Unfortunately Rome date not up to much (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

moderate

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'up to much' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'unfortunately rome date' is the wordplay.
'unfortunately' indicates anagramming the letters (a bad or unfortunate spelling).
'rome'+'date'='romedate'
'romedate' is an anagram of 'MODERATE'.

'not' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for moderate that I've seen before include "kept within bounds" , "So-so; sensible" , "Slacken" , "Within reasonable or average limits" , "not going to extremes" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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