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Clue 8 down
Player has penalty — in short, it’s awful (8)

The answer I am pretty sure is Thespian so player would be the definition but can’t quite see the wordplay, presumably an anagram of has pen and it but can’t see how you are supposed to get there.

Any ideas?

Could "awful" be the anagram indicator?
Has pen it = thespian is a player.

Very good, rusty, but I think the clue would have been fairer with "it is" rather than "it's".

Thanks both