Soft as an American's daddy (5)

I believe the answer is:

pappy

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This clue might be a double definition.

'soft' is the first definition.
(thesaurus)

'an american's daddy' is the second definition.
'pappy' can be an answer for 'daddy' (thesaurus). I'm not certain of the 'an american's' bit.

'as' is the link.

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I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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