Quietly passed on and given unexpected promotion (9)
I believe the answer is:
preferred
'given unexpected promotion' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to thinking as well as being past participle verbs.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'quietly passed on' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'quietly' could be 'p' (musical symbol) and 'p' is found within the answer.
'on' could be 're' ('on' can be mean 'with reference to') and 're' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for preferred that I've seen before include "Liked better" , "singled out" , "Was partial to" , "Chose before others" , "choice" .)