Critical-sounding explanation for being crowded (10)
I believe the answer is:
meaningful
'crowded' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'critical-sounding explanation for being' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'sounding' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found within the answer.
'being' could be 'man' (human being) and 'man' is located in the remaining letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for meaningful that I've seen before include "Significant" , "Important" .)