Strong Scot’s excellent New Year (6)

I believe the answer is:

brawny

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'strong' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'scot's excellent new year' is the wordplay.
'scot's excellent' becomes 'braw' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'new year' becomes 'ny' (abbreviation).
'braw'+'ny'='BRAWNY'

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(Another definition for brawny that I've seen is " Muscular".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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