Painters in dire straits (7)

I believe the answer is:

artists

'painters' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'dire straits' is the wordplay.
'dire' is an anagram indicator.
'straits' anagrammed gives 'ARTISTS'.

'in' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for artists that I've seen before include "Monet and Manet, for example" , "creative types may find themselves" , "Painters" , "They imagine" , "Creative people" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian, The Globe and Mail and The Times.

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