Crossword Genius

Deflect praise working on this quality (4-11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

self-deprecation

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'quality' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'deflect praise working on' is the wordplay.
'working' is an anagram indicator.
'deflect'+'praise'='deflectpraise'
'deflectpraise' with letters rearranged gives 'selfdeprecati'.
'selfdeprecati'+'on'='SELF-DEPRECATION'

'this' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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