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A way to enter hotel and club in Aspen? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hardwood

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

'aspen?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'a way to enter hotel and club in' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'rd'.
'to enter' is an insertion indicator.
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'club in' becomes 'wood' (wood is a kind of club. I am not sure about the 'in' bit.**).
'a'+'rd'='ard'
'h'+'wood'='hwood'
'ard' put into 'hwood' is 'HARDWOOD'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hardwood that I've seen before include "Timber of deciduous trees" , "Oak, ash or beech, for example" , "Aspen?" , "Teak or mahogany, say" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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