Crossword Genius

Nice weight outwardly for an amphibian (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

newt

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'for an amphibian' is the definition.
(newt is a kind of amphibian)

'nice weight outwardly' is the wordplay.
'nice' becomes 'ne' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'outwardly' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (only the outermost letters are used).
'weight' with its middle removed is 'wt'.
'ne'+'wt'='NEWT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for newt that I've seen before include "Scientist" , "Went to find a sort of eft" , "Amphibious salamander" , "Went to find amphibian" , "Amphibian such as the salamander" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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