Crossword Genius

Unpleasant article written about pen (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nasty

'unpleasant' is the definition.
(nasty can mean unpleasant or horrible)

'article written about pen' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'an' (English indefinite article).
'written about' is a reversal indicator.
'pen' becomes 'sty' (both can mean an animal enclosure).
'an' back-to-front is 'na'.
'na'+'sty'='NASTY'

(Other definitions for nasty that I've seen before include "Awful" , "Filthy" , "rank" , "Repulsive" , "Disagreeable" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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