Dull, though short, dispute among lusty characters (8)

I believe the answer is:

stultify

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

'though short dispute among lusty characters' is the wordplay.
'short' indicates taking the first letters.
'dispute' becomes 'if' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'among' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are placed among others).
'characters' indicates an anagram.
The initial letter of 'though' is 't'.
't'+'if'='tif'
'lusty' with letters rearranged gives 'stuly'.
'tif' going within 'stuly' is 'STULTIFY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for stultify that I've seen before include "Make futile" , "Render ineffectual - lusty fit (anag)" , "Cause to appear stupid" , "Dull the mind with tedious tasks" , "Cause to feel bored" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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