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Changeable sort often smoked joint in church somewhere in Spain (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chameleon

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'changeable sort often smoked' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'joint in church somewhere in spain' is the wordplay.
'joint' becomes 'ham' (ham is a joint of meat).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'church' becomes 'CE' (abbreviation for Church of England).
'somewhere in spain' becomes 'leon' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'ham' put inside 'ce' is 'chame'.
'chame'+'leon'='CHAMELEON'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chameleon that I've seen before include "Self-camouflaging lizard" , "fickle person" , "Animal that changes colour" , "One far from constant" , "Person who keeps changing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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