Around mid-March, a beast is bad tempered (6)
I believe the answer is:
morose
'bad tempered' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'around mid-march a beast' is the wordplay.
'around' is an insertion indicator.
'mid' indicates the central letters (mid- can mean the middle of something).
'a beast' becomes 'moose'.
The centre of 'march' is 'r'.
'r' put within 'moose' is 'MOROSE'.
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for morose that I've seen before include "blue" , "Sullen or glum." , "Sullen and ill-tempered" , "Peevish and gloomy" , "in a grumpy mood" .)