Crossword Genius

Unfortunately annual rut is affected (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

unnatural

'is affected' is the definition.
(both can mean false or inauthentic)

'unfortunately annual rut' is the wordplay.
'unfortunately' indicates an anagram (a bad or unfortunate spelling).
'annual'+'rut'='annualrut'
'annualrut' with letters rearranged gives 'UNNATURAL'.

(Other definitions for unnatural that I've seen before include "Lacking normal feelings of, say, affection" , "Affected" , "Abnormal; not spontaneous" , "Forced" , "Strange" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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