Crossword Genius

Long for a homely fruit while having an exotic one (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pineapple

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

'while having an exotic one' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'long for a homely fruit' is the wordplay.
'long' becomes 'pine' (to pine for someone is to long for them).
'for' says to put letters next to each other.
'a homely fruit' becomes 'apple' (apple is a kind of fruit. I am not sure about the 'homely' bit.).
'pine'+'apple'='PINEAPPLE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pineapple that I've seen before include "Large juicy tropical fruit, or a grenade" , "that might go off?" , "Fruit grown on ground" , "bomb" , "Fruit (tree and fruit!)" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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