Crossword Genius

Toady is more deflated by queen (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

flatterer

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

'toady' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'more deflated by queen' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'by' could be 'at' and 'at' is present in the answer.
'queen' could be 'er' (abbreviation for Elizabeth Regina) and 'er' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'is' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for flatterer that I've seen before include "One uses butter" , "Sycophant" , "Person who imitates, perhaps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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