Account swallowed by public editor exaggerated, in part (9)
I believe the answer is:
overacted
'exaggerated in part' is the definition.
(exaggerated when playing a theatrical part)
'account swallowed by public editor' is the wordplay.
'account' becomes 'ac' (abbreviation for account).
'swallowed by' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'public' becomes 'overt' (both can mean well-known or unconcealed).
'editor' becomes 'ed' (abbreviation).
'ac' placed inside 'overt' is 'overact'.
'overact'+'ed'='OVERACTED'
(Other definitions for overacted that I've seen before include "Ranted on stage" , "Piled it on" , "Exaggerated" , "Overdid the performance" .)