Crossword Genius

Punishment that is very hard? Not exactly! (7,8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

complex sentence

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

'punishment that is very hard? not exactly' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.

'punishment' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'punishment' could be 'sentence' (I've seen this before) and 'sentence' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'complex' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.