Crossword Genius

Like a fruitcake, only more so (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nuttier

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'like a' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'fruitcake only more so' is the wordplay.
'fruitcake' becomes 'nut' (I've seen this before).
'only more so' becomes 'tier' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'nut'+'tier'='NUTTIER'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nuttier that I've seen before include "Increasingly unbalanced" , "That's not so sensible" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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