Crossword Genius

Popular enthusiast playing piece that's childish (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

infantile

'childish' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'popular enthusiast playing piece' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'enthusiast' becomes 'fan' (fan is a kind of enthusiast).
'playing piece' becomes 'tile' (eg a Scrabble tile).
'in'+'fan'+'tile'='INFANTILE'

'that's' is the link.

(Other definitions for infantile that I've seen before include "Inflate in childish way" , "for kids" , "in early stage of development" , "Babyish" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.