Crossword Genius

Poor attempt to support friend (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

paltry

'poor' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'attempt to support friend' is the wordplay.
'attempt' becomes 'try' (I've seen this before).
'to support' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other) (in a down clue, some letters hold others up).
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal is a kind of friend).
'try' put after 'pal' is 'PALTRY'.

(Other definitions for paltry that I've seen before include "Trivial, comtemptible" , "not worth considering" , "Minor, insignificant" , "Petty - trifling" , "Worthless or trivial" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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