Most rugged snipe-like bird to try about one (9)

'most rugged' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are superlative adjectives. Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'snipe-like bird to try about one' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'bird' could be 'knot' (knot is a kind of bird) and 'knot' is located in the answer.
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is located in the answer.
'try' could be 'test' (synonyms) and 'test' is located in the remaining letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?