Hit back at noble queen and king taking over diplomat's hotel by day (7-8)
I believe the answer is:
counter-attacked
'king taking over diplomat's hotel by day' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'hit back at noble queen' is the wordplay.
'hit back' becomes 'attacked' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'at' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'noble' becomes 'count' (count is a type of aristocrat).
'queen' becomes 'ER' (short for Elizabeth Regina ie Queen Elizabeth).
'count'+'er'='counter'
'attacked' put after 'counter' is 'COUNTER-ATTACKED'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?