Crossword Genius

Mineral makes fashionista evenly little (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

diorite

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

'mineral' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both substances as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's a link between them I don't understand?

'fashionista evenly little' is the wordplay.
'fashionista' becomes 'dior' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'evenly' indicates alternate letters (the letters in even-numbered positions).
The alternating letters of 'little' are 'ite'.
'dior'+'ite'='DIORITE'

'makes' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for diorite that I've seen is " Coarse-grained igneous rock".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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