Way in which to defend a decision not to slim? (7)
I believe the answer is:
stoutly
'in which to defend a decision not to slim?' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adverbs. Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'way' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'way' could be 'st' (abbreviation for street) and 'st' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for stoutly that I've seen is " Bravely".)