After knocking back ten, was the boss tipsy? (5)
I believe the answer is:
oiled
'tipsy?' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'after knocking back ten was the boss' is the wordplay.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'knocking back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'ten' becomes 'IO' (IO resembles l0).
'was the boss' becomes 'led' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'io' backwards is 'oi'.
'oi' put next to 'led' is 'OILED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oiled that I've seen before include "tipsy" , "Anointed" , "running smoothly?" , "as silk may be" , "protected from rust?" .)