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I alter it foolishly for the scholarly types (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

literati

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'the scholarly types' is the definition.
'literati' can be an answer for 'types' (I have seen 'Bookish types ' mean 'literati' so perhaps 'types' could also mean 'literati'). I'm unsure of the 'the scholarly' bit.

'i alter it foolishly' is the wordplay.
'foolishly' indicates an anagram.
'i'+'alter'+'it'='ialterit'
'ialterit' with letters rearranged gives 'LITERATI'.

'for' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for literati that I've seen before include "Learned people, men of letters" , "Well-read and scholarly people" , "Learned, well-read people" , "intellectuals" , "Men and women of letters" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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