Competitor who didn't qualify but did crawl creatively (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
wild card
'competitor who didn't qualify' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'did crawl creatively' is the wordplay.
'did crawl' can be anagrammed to 'WILD-CARD'.
But, I'm not clear how this is indicated.
'but' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for wild card that I've seen before include "Unqualified competitor given discretionary entry (often the joker!)" , "non-qualifier invited to compete" , "Joker say" , "can be a match for any character" .)