Crossword Genius

Stocky rednecks entertained by festival (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

thickset

'stocky' is the definition.
(I know that stocky can be written as thickset)

'rednecks entertained by festival' is the wordplay.
'rednecks' becomes 'hicks' (both can mean people from rural areas).
'entertained by' indicates putting letters inside (inserted letters are hosted or entertained).
'festival' becomes 'Tet' (Vietnamese new year festival).
'hicks' placed into 'tet' is 'THICKSET'.

(Other definitions for thickset that I've seen before include "Solidly-built" , "Solidly built; growing close together" , "positioned close together" , "sturdy" , "Heavily built" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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