Maybe loon meets chap following a different path (9)
I believe the answer is:
divergent
'following a different path' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'maybe loon meets chap' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'loon' could be 'diver' (synonyms) and 'diver' is found within the answer.
'chap' could be 'gent' (both can mean a man) and 'gent' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for divergent that I've seen before include "Going in different directions" , "showing disagreement" , "different from the others?" , "Going in differing directions" , "(Of lines) moving apart" .)