Crossword Genius

Mawkish, one very quietly having stopped being the opposite? (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

drippy

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

'mawkish' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'one very quietly having stopped being the opposite?' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'very quietly' becomes 'pp' (musical abbreviation for pianissimo).
'having stopped' means one lot of letters goes inside another (stopping can mean blocking a gap).
'being the opposite?' becomes 'dry' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'i'+'pp'='ipp'
'ipp' inserted within 'dry' is 'DRIPPY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for drippy that I've seen before include "Sloppily sentimental" , "wet" , "Mawkish - leaking?" , "silly?" , "Would a slow leak be" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app