Crossword Genius

Girl falling short is sort to trouble pedants (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rigorists

'pedants' is the definition.
(rigorously precise people)

'girl falling short is sort to trouble' is the wordplay.
'falling short' means to remove the last letter.
'to trouble' indicates anagramming the letters.
'girl' with its last letter removed is 'gir'.
'gir'+'is'+'sort'='girissort'
'girissort' with letters rearranged gives 'RIGORISTS'.

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.