Desire to act foolishly, at first, punching leg continually (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
stage fever
'desire to act' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.
'foolishly at first punching leg continually' is the wordplay.
'at first' suggests taking the first letters.
'punching' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters punch or puncture others).
'leg' becomes 'stage' (synonyms).
'continually' becomes 'ever' (ever can mean always).
The first letter of 'foolishly' is 'f'.
'stage'+'ever'='stageever'
'f' going into 'stageever' is 'STAGE FEVER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
I've seen this clue in The Times.
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