Crossword Genius

By oneself in plant pinching indefinite number (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

alone

'by oneself' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'plant pinching indefinite number' is the wordplay.
'plant' becomes 'aloe' (aloe is a kind of plant**).
'pinching' means one lot of letters goes inside another (taking inside).
'indefinite number' becomes 'n' (I've seen this in other clues).
'aloe' placed around 'n' is 'ALONE'.

'in' is the link.

(Other definitions for alone that I've seen before include "Exclusively, by oneself" , "without another" , "Isolated from others" , "Solo" , "Without anybody or anything else" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.