Crossword Genius

The girl’s been stood up again and that’s tough (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

severe

'that's tough' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'the girl's been stood up again' is the wordplay.
'the girl's' becomes 'eves' (**).
'been stood up' is a reversal indicator (I've seen 'being stood up' mean this (in a down clue, letters go up)).
'again' becomes 're'.
'eves' written backwards gives 'seve'.
'seve'+'re'='SEVERE'

'and' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for severe that I've seen before include "Harsh and punitive" , "Harsh and stern" , "Austere, serious" , "'Strict, harsh (6)'" , "Harsh; very plain" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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