Crossword Genius

Inflexible, as Stalin once could be (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nonelastic

'inflexible' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'stalin once could be' is the wordplay.
'could be' indicates anagramming the letters.
'stalin'+'once'='stalinonce'
'stalinonce' is an anagram of 'NONELASTIC'.

'as' acts as a link.

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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