Crossword Genius

Are little boys unhappy in it? (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

blue

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'are' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.

'little boys unhappy in it?' is the wordplay.
'little' suggests taking the first letters.
'unhappy in' becomes 'lu' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'it?' becomes 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT').
The initial letter of 'boys' is 'b'.
'b'+'lu'+'e'='BLUE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for blue that I've seen before include "ball at snooker" , "Dispirited in cerulean way" , "Top sportsman who's up" , "Spend all at once - colour" , "and 17 World's largest mammal" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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