A link ties “diabolical” and its opposite (9)

I believe the answer is:

saintlike

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'its opposite' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'a link ties diabolical' is the wordplay.
'diabolical' is an anagram indicator.
'a'+'link'+'ties'='alinkties'
'alinkties' anagrammed gives 'SAINTLIKE'.

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for saintlike that I've seen is " holy".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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