Crossword Genius

Blasted duck – or beautiful bird (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

flamingo

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'beautiful bird' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'blasted duck' is the wordplay.
'blasted' becomes 'flaming' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'duck' becomes 'o' (resembles zero - 'duck' in cricket).
'flaming'+'o'='FLAMINGO'

'or' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for flamingo that I've seen before include "Pretty bird" , "Tall wading bird" , "Pink flier" , "Long-legged bird" , "Large pink bird" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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