Harder pork pie consumed by pilot (8)
I believe the answer is:
steelier
'harder' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'pork pie consumed by pilot' is the wordplay.
'pork pie' becomes 'lie' ('pork pie' is Cockney rhyming slang for a lie).
'consumed by' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters get consumed).
'pilot' becomes 'steer' (I've seen this before).
'lie' inserted inside 'steer' is 'STEELIER'.
I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free.
Check out my app
or
learn more
about the Crossword Genius project.