Crossword Genius

Strong words for ultimate extremist (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hardliner

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'extremist' is the definition.
(I know that hardliner is a type of extremist)

'strong words for' is the wordplay.
'strong' becomes 'hard' (synonyms).
'words for' becomes 'liner' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'hard'+'liner'='HARDLINER'

'ultimate' acts as a link.
This may not be right. It may be part of another bit of the clue.

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(Other definitions for hardliner that I've seen before include "Inflexible ideologue" , "dogmatic type" , "One pursuing an uncompromising policy" , "One committed to an uncompromising policy" , "Uncompromising advocate" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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