Crossword Genius

Scrawny neck, but no stuffing, put in place (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

lanky

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'scrawny' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'no stuffing put in place' is the wordplay.
'no' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation).
'stuffing' is an insertion indicator.
'put in place' becomes 'laky' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'n' going within 'laky' is 'LANKY'.

'neck but' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for lanky that I've seen before include "Inelegantly tall and thin" , "Ungracefully tall" , "Tall and scrawny" , "Awkwardly tall" , "Long and slender" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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