Acts as chairman but shows partiality in advance? (8)
I believe the answer is:
presides
'acts' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with social activities as well as being verbs in their -s form.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'chairman but shows partiality in advance?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'in advance?' could be 'pre' (prefix meaning 'before') and 'pre' is found within the answer.
'shows partiality' could be 'sides' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'sides' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'as' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for presides that I've seen before include "Is in authority (over a meeting)" , "is placed in chair" , "Manages meeting" .)