Crossword Genius

Exhaust Spooner's dim individual (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tailpipe

'exhaust' is the definition.
(I know that exhaust can be written as tailpipe)

'spooner's dim individual' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'individual' could be 'tail' (tail is a kind of individual) and 'tail' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'pipe' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

(Other definitions for tailpipe that I've seen before include "End to an exhaust system" , "Car exhaust (US)" , "Rear section of exhaust" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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