Had a soft spot akin to Dutch leader (5)
I believe the answer is:
liked
'had a soft spot' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'akin to dutch leader' is the wordplay.
'akin to' becomes 'like' (I've seen this in another clue).
'leader' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'dutch' is 'd'.
'like'+'d'='LIKED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for liked that I've seen before include "Was fond of" , "Appreciated" , "Enjoyed - popular" , "Took pleasure in" .)