Flatter in a mild sort of way? (8)
I believe the answer is:
blandish
'flatter' is the definition.
(I know that flatter can be written as blandish)
'in a mild sort of way?' is the wordplay.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'a mild' becomes 'blad' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'sort of' becomes 'ish' (eg newish means sort of new).
'way?' becomes 'n' (Compass direction - North).
'blad'+'ish'='bladish'
'bladish' enclosing 'n' is 'BLANDISH'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for blandish that I've seen before include "flatter" , "rather insipid" , "Use flattery" , "rather tasteless?" , "Wheedle" .)