Crossword Genius

Strangely bluer and almost cloudlike (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nebular

'cloudlike' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'strangely bluer and almost' is the wordplay.
'strangely' is an anagram indicator.
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'bluer'+'and'='bluerand'
'bluerand' with its final letter taken away is 'blueran'.
'blueran' with letters rearranged gives 'NEBULAR'.

(Other definitions for nebular that I've seen before include "Relating to astronomical cloud" , "Like a cloud (in space)" , "Hazy and formless" , "Cloudy" , "Like dust that could be stellar" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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