About pupil covering for mawkish Al's speech (7)

I believe the answer is:

corneal

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'about' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'pupil covering for mawkish al's speech' is the wordplay.
'pupil covering' becomes 'cornea' (I've seen this in another clue).
'for' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'mawkish al's speech' becomes 'l' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cornea'+'l'='CORNEAL'

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I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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