Crossword Genius

Start to develop interpretation after a lot of brute criticism (13)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

animadversion

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

'lot of brute criticism' is the definition.
'animadversion' can be an answer for 'criticism' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'lot of brute' bit.

'start to develop interpretation after a' is the wordplay.
'start to develop' becomes 'nimad' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'interpretation' becomes 'version' (synonyms).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'nimad'+'version'='nimadversion'
'nimadversion' put after 'a' is 'ANIMADVERSION'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for animadversion that I've seen before include "Critical comment" , "Criticism" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app