Crossword Genius

Bit of fluff was director in the aforementioned municipality? (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thistledown

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'director in the aforementioned municipality?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how one could define the other.

'bit of fluff' is the wordplay.
'bit of' becomes 'thistle' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'fluff' becomes 'down' (both can mean soft feathers).
'thistle'+'down'='THISTLEDOWN'

'was' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for thistledown that I've seen before include "A mass of feathery seeds" , "parachutes" , "Light fluff of some seeds" , "Fluff on which some seeds fly" , "What helps some seeds fly" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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