Crossword Genius

Unreasonable partner once fiddled with meter (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

extreme

'unreasonable' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'partner once fiddled with meter' is the wordplay.
'partner once' becomes 'ex' (an ex-partner).
'fiddled with' indicates an anagram.
'meter' with letters rearranged gives 'treme'.
'ex'+'treme'='EXTREME'

(Other definitions for extreme that I've seen before include "Far from moderate" , "Anything but moderate" , "Very intense - way-out" , "Immoderate" , "Most distant" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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