Spreading fun, Liberal in short out to be bighearted (9)

I believe the answer is:

bountiful

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'bighearted' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'spreading fun liberal in short out to be' is the wordplay.
'spreading' becomes 'b' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'short' suggests taking the first letters.
'to be' is an anagram indicator.
The initial letters of 'liberal in' is 'li'.
'fun'+'li'+'out'='funliout'
'funliout' with letters rearranged gives 'ountiful'.
'b'+'ountiful'='BOUNTIFUL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for bountiful that I've seen before include "Generous in giving -- abundant" , "Giving generously" , "flush with bonus for joining up?" , "So-called lady" , "Available in large quantities" .)

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.

Connecting...