Alarming as courier, say, takes time and money (9)
I believe the answer is:
upsetting
'alarming' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'as courier say takes time and money' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'as' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is located in the answer.
'courier' could be 'ups' (US delivery company) and 'ups' is present in the answer.
'time' could be 't' (abbreviation) and 't' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for upsetting that I've seen before include "Tipping" , "worrying" , "sad?" , "Likely to put out" , "Distressing" .)