Penalises wordplay long drawn out (8)

I believe the answer is:

finespun

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'long drawn out' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'penalises wordplay' is the wordplay.
'penalises' becomes 'fines'.
'wordplay' becomes 'pun' (synonyms).
'fines'+'pun'='FINESPUN'

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(Other definitions for finespun that I've seen before include "Highly subtle" , "Over-subtle" , "Excessively subtle" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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