Crossword Genius

Very bad bananas deter apes (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

desperate

'very bad' is the definition.
(desperate means very bad or urgent)

'bananas deter apes' is the wordplay.
'bananas' indicates an anagram (bananas can informally mean crazy).
'deter'+'apes'='deterapes'
'deterapes' anagrammed gives 'DESPERATE'.

(Other definitions for desperate that I've seen before include "Extremely dangerous (situation)" , "critical" , "Adept seer (anag)" , "Nearly hopeless" , "Having lost all hope" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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