I discovered acid queen is more hostile (5)

I believe the answer is:

icier

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'more hostile' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are comparative adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'i discovered acid queen' is the wordplay.
'discovered' says to take the centre.
'queen' becomes 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina).
The middle letters of 'acid' are 'ci'.
'i'+'ci'+'er'='ICIER'

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for icier that I've seen before include "More cold - really freezing" , "much less friendly" , "More cold or frozen" , "rather cold" , "More treacherous" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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