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Stamp of excellence (but a blemish on a building?) (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hallmark

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

'stamp of excellence' is the definition.
'hallmark' can be an answer for 'stamp' (I have seen 'Official stamp ' mean 'hallmark' so perhaps 'stamp' could also mean 'hallmark'). I'm not certain of the 'of excellence' bit.

'a blemish on a building?' is the wordplay.
'a blemish' becomes 'mark' (mark is a kind of blemish).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a building?' becomes 'hall' (hall is a kind of building).
'mark' after 'hall' is 'HALLMARK'.

'but' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hallmark that I've seen before include "Assay stamp" , "Distinguishing feature" , "Precious metal stamp" , "Stamp indicating standard of gold etc" , "Assay-stamp" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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