Crossword Genius

Grasped stout and sheltered (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fathomed

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'grasped' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to thinking as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'stout and sheltered' is the wordplay.
'stout' becomes 'fat' (similar in meaning).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'sheltered' becomes 'homed' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'fat'+'homed'='FATHOMED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fathomed that I've seen before include "Got" , "Deeply understood" , "Sounded" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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