Crossword Genius

Heavier cold the person who was beaten had (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

closer

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'heavier' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are comparative adjectives. Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?

'cold the person who was beaten had' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'cold' could be 'c' (eg on taps) and 'c' is located in the answer.
'person' could be 'loser' (loser is a kind of person) and 'loser' is found in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for closer that I've seen before include "Less distant" , "within a shorter distance" , "not so remote" , "one concludes" , "more precise" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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