Crossword Genius

Stupidly refuse to accept bottomless ego (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

densely

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'stupidly' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adverbs. Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'refuse to accept bottomless ego' is the wordplay.
'refuse' becomes 'deny' (synonyms).
'to accept' indicates putting letters inside.
'bottomless' means to remove the last letter.
'ego' becomes 'self' (synonyms).
'self' with its final letter removed is 'sel'.
'deny' placed around 'sel' is 'DENSELY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for densely that I've seen before include "In a thick manner" , "in a crowd" , "Thickly" , "measure of concentration" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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