Crossword Genius

Brownie in crowd returning to base as before (8)

Ross

There are a few possibilities for this:

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'brownie in' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'crowd returning to base as before' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'crowd' could be 'm' and 'm' is present in the answer.
'base' could be 'e' (Euler's number - base of natural logarithms) and 'e' is present in the answer.
'before' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for selfsame that I've seen before include "Exactly identical" , "The identical kind, not changed or different" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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