Crossword Genius

Climbing mountain, increasing strength, not going all the way (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

platonic

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'going all the way' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'climbing mountain increasing strength not' is the wordplay.
'climbing mountain' becomes 'pla' (I've seen this in other clues).
'increasing strength not' becomes 'tonic' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'pla'+'tonic'='PLATONIC'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for platonic that I've seen before include "Latin cop in kind of non-sexual romance" , "(Of love) intimate but not sexual" , "No-sex" , "Describes a friendship that's free from physical desire" , "Without physical desire" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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