Crossword Genius

Distinctive person also has tough exterior (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

standout

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'distinctive' is the definition.

'person also has tough exterior' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'also' could be 'and' (both can mean in addition) and 'and' is found within the answer.
'person' could be 'tout' (tout is a kind of person) and 'tout' is located in the remaining letters.
A single letter 's' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for standout that I've seen before include "project" , "Persist in opposing" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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