Crossword Genius

Emphasise the extent of tall tale as told by Spooner? (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

highlight

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

'emphasise' is the definition.
(highlighting is a kind of emphasizing)

'extent of tall tale as told by spooner?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'tall' could be 'high' (associated in meaning) and 'high' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'light' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for highlight that I've seen before include "Most memorable part of event" , "Draw attention to - streak in hair" , "Outstanding feature" , "the moon?" , "Main feature" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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